Edith Johnston

Biography Edith Johnston Price-Edith Ione Cato Johnston, age 98, passed away peacefully on May 16, 2010, surrounded by family at the Beehive Home in Elmo, Utah. She was born November 12, 1911 in Grand Junction, Colorado. She was the oldest of seven children born to Charles Urias and Mary Ellen Westwood Cato. She and the love of her life, Wayne E. Johnston, eloped November 18, 1929, they were married 72 years. To this union were born two sons and two daughters. Von Wayne (LaRaine), Wellington; Vion LaVern, Moab; Vonna Ione (Martin) Hamaker, Moab and Valynda Kay (Jerry Dee Muggs) Clark, Wellington. At her passing she had 22 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grandchildren. Edith worked beside her husband throughout her full and active life. In the beginning of their marriage she and Wayne herded goats, chased wild horses and carried the mail between Cisco and Castleton, Utah. They ranched and raised cattle in the Cisco area until 1938 when they moved to Price and opened the first livestock auction in Utah. She was the bookkeeper and right hand man and he was the auctioneer. Her interests were varied and many. She and Wayne were charter members of the Castle Valley Gem Society and she was a avid rock hound and was skilled in making silver and semi-precious stone jewelry. She was an artist and a collector of many things including old bottles. She spent many hours digging in abounded dumps to find them. She lived in Yellow Cat, a uranium camp south of Thompson, Utah where Wayne mined in the 1950's. She was always at her husband's side and was his helpmate at all times. She was a member of the Utah Quilt Guild, the Daughter's of the Utah Pioneers and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a visiting teacher for many years and served as secretary of the Price First Ward Relief Society in the early part of the 1950's. After Wayne's death she completed her own endowment work in the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple and their marriage was solemnized. March 22, 2003. Her husband Wayne preceded her in death, as did her parents, all siblings, a daughter-in-law, Colleen Johnston, grandson, Dwayne Johnston, and a Grandson-in-law, James Wade Hoffman. She will be greatly missed by her numerous family, nieces and nephews, and friends. Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at the Wellington Stake Center (935 East Main.) A viewing will be held Thursday, May 20, 2010 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Fausett Mortuary in Price and on Friday one hour prior the services at the church. Interment will be in the Grand Valley Cemetery, on Sand Flats Road in Moab, Utah. Services are in the care of Fausett Mortuary. Friends and family may sign the guestbook and share memories of Edith at www.fausettmortuary.com.