Vesta Jean (Titus) Howard
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 6A Obituary - October 25, 2017
Vesta Jean Titus Wilkie
Ekstrom Howard, was born
December 2, 1933, and died
October 22, 2017 in Salt Lake
City, Utah.
Jean was born to Guy and
Isa Titus in Colorado Springs,
Colorado. She was one of
seven siblings, one of which
was her twin brother. She was
active in school programs,
such as the flag corps, and graduated from Palmer High School.
Her family moved to Grand Junction in 1952 after buying a
peach orchard on Orchard Mesa.
Jean, as all her friends called her, made friends easily and
formed lifelong friendships with many. She worked as a maid at
the motel on First Street and North Avenue, then as a
dishwasher for many years at several restaurants around the
Grand Valley. She also did house cleaning for elderly people as
well as in the housekeeping department at the Palisade Nursing
Home. Jean tried her hand at other endeavors such as Avon,
Tupperware, food truck service, and finally delivered
newspapers for several years for The Daily Sentinel before
becoming disabled and retiring.
Jean was the mother of four children from her first marriage,
all outgrew her 4’9" stature. She loved to travel and was
inquisitive, fun loving and usually ready to try just about
anything as long as it didn’t involve water. She never learned to
swim and was deathly afraid of drowning. She loved dogs and
cats, with sometimes more than one in her care until she
developed allergies to their dander. She was always looking for
a bargain, and her extra room proved she found many. In the
past decade, she became an avid and proficient Bingo player and
even helped others while winning with her own cards, which she
knew how to pick.
She is survived by her children, Diana Wilkie, Laura Werling,
Orla (Charles) Loper, and Harold Wilkie; grandchildren,
Richard Werling, Jr., Tanya (Alan) Capriotti, and Matthew
(Amy) Werling, Rachael (Steve) Caballero, and Shawn (Amen)
Loper; 12 great-grandchildren, Brandon, Nathan, Devin and
Steven Capriotti, Ashley, Jacob, Benjamin, Angela, and (soon to
arrive Tanner) Werling, Caleb and Clover Caballero, and Jael
Loper, and her sister, Evelyn (Allen) VanDyke from Spokane,
WA.
A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, October 25,
2017 at 1:00 p.m. at Orchard Mesa Cemetery, 2620 Legacy
Way, Grand Junction, Colorado.
Arrangements entrusted to Starks Funeral Parlor. Online
condolences may be offered to the family at
www.starksfuneral.com.
