Zilpha Diana Gardner

Zilpha Diana Gardner, a resident of Thatcher, entered into eternal life Wednesday morning, November 25, 2020, at the Mount Graham Regional Medical Center, with her family at her bedside. Zilpha was 77. Zilpha studied at Brigham Young University before serving a mission in the Argentina North Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Following her mission she lived and worked in the Phoenix area where she met and married her sweetheart of 50 years. Zilpha’s true love was being a wife and mother and serving others in her church and community. Her hobbies and talents included singing, cooking and baking, reading, spoiling her grandkids and making everyone around her feel special. She was considered a best friend to all who got to know her. Zilpha loved nothing more than the gospel of Jesus Christ and her family. Together, with her husband Allan, they served a senior mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Safford, Arizona Stake and later served together in the Gila Valley Temple. Zilpha is survived by: her children, Doug (Maria), Jeff (Lizeth), Randall (Jennifer), Tiffany (Wes Gilmore), daughter-in-law, Becky, Gary (Heidi) and Corrianne (Nathan Coons). She was a proud grandma of twenty-two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Zilpha was preceded in death by: her husband, Allan, her son, Lowell; and her parents, Ole and Gwendolyn Nielsen. Funeral services for Zilpha will be conducted Tuesday morning, December 1, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., at Vining Funeral Home's "Chapel of the Valley” by Bishop Rhett Dodge of the Thatcher First Ward. Concluding services will follow at the Thatcher Cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday morning, December 1, 2020, from 9:30 a.m. until 10:45 a.m., also at the Vining Funeral Home. For those who wish to participate with the family via live-stream we would direct your attention to the following links: Tuesday morning, December 1, 2020, at 9:30 a.m.(MST), at the Vining Funeral Home https://youtu.be/C4fDl-tn7Rg Tuesday afternoon, December 1, 2020, at 12:30 p.m.(MST), at the Thatcher Cemetery https://youtu.be/GZx1YA5-NxA