Willa Verlee Peterson Bagley left this world November 2, 2021, just as she wanted--peacefully in her home.

Willa Verlee Peterson was born October 14, 1928, in Twin Groves, Idaho in the home of Grandma and Grandpa Goulding. She was welcomed by her parents, Rowland Blaine and Geneva Goulding Peterson, and her older brother, Rellwin Gene Peterson. The family was completed when Nyal Lyn joined the family nine years later.

Willa grew up in the Drummond area, northeast of Ashton, Idaho. She lived in a home built by her paternal grandpa, Swan Oliver Peterson, on Connant Creek. Willa attended a one room schoolhouse in France Siding. She and Gene walked to school in the fall and spring, and in the winter, they skied or rode a horse.

Just before Willa's 8th grade year, her parents decided to sell the home on Connant Creek and buy a home in St. Anthony so she and Gene could go to high school. That first year, they lived with their Grandma Goulding during the week and then they would catch the train to Ashton each Saturday morning.

World War II caused another change in Willa's life. When Gene turned eighteen, he enlisted in the Navy. Her dad was unable to run the dry farm alone, so the family bought a place in North Salem along the Snake River. Willa helped milk eighteen head of cows night and morning along with hauling hay and digging potatoes. She completed her last two years of high school at Sugar-Salem, graduating in 1947.

After high school, Willa attended Ricks College for three quarters. She decided to take a job at the St. Anthony Starch Company and started working there December 7, 1948. Willa worked there for four years. It was during this time that she became acquainted with a dark-haired, blue-eyed young man named Vivan J. Bagley. They dated off and on for nearly five years. They were finally married October 22, 1952, in the Idaho Falls Temple.

Willa and Vivan made their home in Salem, Idaho farming and raising their five children: Cleve, Vaughn (still born), Joy, Treeva and Lona. Willa helped on the farm--driving tractors and trucks, and milking and feeding the cows.

Throughout her life, Willa was involved in a variety of activities. Willa learned to play the violin (or the fiddle as she called it) at a young age and continued playing into her eighties. In her youth she played in a dance band earning 30-40 cents a night. Willa played with the Western Heritage Performers at many Cowboy Poet gatherings where she made many friends over the years and enjoyed their association. Willa was a long time member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and she looked forward to the monthly meetings. Willa was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served in many callings. She was a beautiful example of service to her fellow man.

Willa was greeted in Heaven by her parents, her husband, her brother, Gene, and her son, Vaughn.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Cleve and Sue Bagley, Joy and Lynn Shudlberg, Treeva and Lance Lyon, Lona and Todd Phillips, twelve grandchildren, and thirty-six great-grandchildren. She is loved and missed by them all.

Funeral services will begin at 11:00 a.m., Monday, November 8, 2021 at the Salem LDS Chapel. Family will receive friends from 6:00-7:30 p.m., Sunday, November 7, at Flamm Funeral Home and from 10:00-10:45 a.m., Monday, November 8, 2021 at the Salem LDS Chapel, prior to services.

Link to funeral services: https://youtu.be/LdZ1KjNwtLM