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- dnews.com, Washington
Zella Iona Anderson Bassett, 91, of Pullman (Picture included)
Zella Iona Anderson Bassett, 91, of Pullman, died Sept. 22, 2016, at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.
Zella Iona Anderson Bassett was born into a pioneer life in Ephraim, Utah, on Oct. 30, 1924. As one of 11 children, Zella loved her childhood on the horse-powered farm. She made soap, churned butter and carried fresh eggs to market on her bicycle for credit to her mother's small but precious account. She weeded the family garden for 5 cents a row to earn pocket change for use on the Fourth of July. Zella increased her spending money by winning footraces at those local celebrations.
Zella distinguished herself at Snow College in Ephraim before boldly leaving home to work at the Clearfield, Utah, Naval Supply Depot for the war effort. While obtaining her degree in child development at Utah State University, where she graduated as salutatorian, Zella also earned minors in speech and athletics. While she was working in the kitchen of a young men's boarding house, she met her future husband, Day, who had recently returned from the war.
As newlyweds, Zella and Day spent four years in Ephrata and Othello, Wash., before moving to Pullman in 1954. Besides raising her own boys, Zella taught neighborhood children at the Washington State College Preschool at White Hall, and then taught for many years at the Pullman Nursery School. Ceramic tiles she made with her students in the early '70s still adorn the Neill Public Library today.
As much as Zella loved Pullman, she loved her family more. She and Day drove to Utah so frequently to visit family that they bought a second home there, making as many as five trips a year. Zella rewarded all comers with home-cooked meals at beautifully appointed tables.
From a small-town beginning, Zella became an international globe-trotter as she followed Day to the far corners of the Earth. What started with their four boys in a travel trailer for a summer in Mexico grew into a summer in Portugal, a year in Jordan and two years in Pakistan. While in Pakistan, Zella was honored by Snow College as one of its Centennial Top 100 graduates.
Up to the morning of her tragic fall, Zella remained active and needed. In her last few days, she picked and juiced plums, wrote birthday letters to grandchildren, and carried out her church assignments.
Zella Bassett is survived by her husband, Day; her sons, Mark, Kent, Greg and Doug; 16 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.
Visitation for family and friends will be held 6:30-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the Pullman Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Pullman church.
Kimball Funeral Home is caring for the family. www.kimballfh.com.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1924 - 2016 (91 years)