Elva Ogden

Elva Allred Ogden passed away January 5th at the Taylorsville Legacy House of natural causes, incident to age. Elva was born on September 20, 1928 in Neola, Utah to James Wesley and Fern Marie Allred. Raised in the Uintah Basin area she graduated with honors from Roosevelt High School.

Elva married Carl Smith in 1948 and had four children, Gregg, Sherry and Gene. Fred the youngest passed away as an infant. They first lived in Provo and later moved to Holladay in 1954 to raise their family. A wide circle of friends and their families spent the summer months water skiing with the Smith’s on the local reservoirs. A few years later the whole family started snow skiing to occupy the winter. When the kids were older, Mom attended the University of Utah where she earned a BS degree in Social Studies in 1968. Carl and Elva eventually divorced after which she married Harvey Warnke Jr. They shared ten memorable years before his passing in 1979. Elva married Kenniston Ogden in 1985. Ken and Elva were snowmobile enthusiasts and continued sledding well into their elder years. Yellowstone was one of their favorite winter spots. Traveling was also a passion after retirement for Ken and Elva. Their motorhome took them to Alaska, Canada and throughout the lower 48 states where they often spent months parked on the Oregon coast. They were also world travelers, visiting both Africa and Norway.

Elva briefly taught history at the high school level until she went to work for the Yellow Pages division of Mountain Bell. There she held several different positions and retired from US West as a supervisor. Mom loved to read, paint watercolors, knit and sew just about anything. Cooking and entertaining for her big, noisy and wonderful family was always a favorite. She started out with three kids, but through the years claimed Harvey Warnke III (deceased) and Janet Warnke, as well as Ken’s children Kathy, Richard and Edith plus many grand and great-grandkids as her own. She would volunteer anywhere there was a need and was ready to go anywhere and take on anything. Elva loved her life and lived it on her terms. She had many stories to tell, some sad, some funny and some very insightful. She was determined to be everything she could be and let nobody get in her way. She will forever remain in our hearts.

Elva is survived by her brother Aral (Elaine) Allred and sisters Helen Massey, Beth Brcko and Mona Nickell; son Gregg (Jan) Smith and daughter Sherry (Jim) Goodfellow; stepchildren Kathy Greenlee, Richard (Pauline) Ogden and Edith (John) Bigbie. Preceded in death by her parents, sister Marie (George) Conn, brothers Orvis (Barbara) Allred and Howard (Maxine) Allred, sons Fred and Gene Smith and husband Ken Ogden.

The family would like to extend our heart-felt thanks to the staff of both the Legacy House of Taylorsville and Summit Home Health and Hospice for the loving care and kindness they provided our mother over the past year.

A celebration of her life will be held Friday, January 17th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 S. 900 E., Salt Lake City.

In lieu of flowers, Mom would encourage you to donate to PBS Utah of which she and Ken were longtime supporters.