Elaine Lorraine James

Aug. 11, 1930 - May 18, 2021

Date of Service: May 22, 2021

Elaine Lorraine James (Throckmorton)

HEYBURN – Our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother passed away peacefully at her home on May 18, 2021, at age 90.

Elaine was born August 11, 1930, to Annie Theresa (Borchardt) and James Vernon Joyce Throckmorton in Rupert, Idaho. She was the seventh child of a large and loving family. As the youngest daughter she was adored by her two much older sisters, Virginia (Henry Pfnister) and Margaret Abel (Earl), and alternately protected and teased by her four older brothers, Jim (Margie), Jay (Connie), John (Betty), and Vernon (Ramona). She was especially close to Vernon who was just four years older. When she was five years old, Fred (Rachel), her younger brother was born and they developed a life-long bond. Elaine was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; all but one of her siblings; two grandsons, Garry James, and Robert Bowcut; as well as a son-in-law, Marvin Steffler.

Elaine grew up in Rupert, attended Pershing Elementary and graduated from Rupert High School. She married Denver Earl James on Sept. 5, 1948, and together they raised six children, Denver Ray (Kristi) of Centreville, Virgina, Deanna Faye Steffler (Marvin) of Phoenix, Arizona, Michael Earl (Colleen) of Burley, Idaho, Susan Marie Musil (Dennis) of Layton, Utah, Nancy Elaine Thompson (George) of Heyburn, Idaho, and Teresa Denise Robertson (Kyle) of Heyburn, Idaho.

Elaine was an especially loving and supportive mother and grandmother. She always had a kind word for her children as well as loving advice and correction when needed. She adored her grandchildren and enjoyed their visits, even when her living room was a tumult of laughing, wrestling, playing children.

Besides her six children, Elaine is survived by her younger brother, Fred (Rachael) Throckmorton; sister-in-law, Betty; 24 grandchildren; 65 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren, who miss her warm smile, kind words, and hugs.

Her home became a shrine to her family with pictures of her precious children and grandchildren on every wall. In later years with a little more time free of children, she created beautiful chalk landscapes that evoke memories of times gone by. Her children remember her wonderful chocolate-chip cookies, applesauce and rhubarb pie which, while they try, they can never recreate.

Elaine loved to garden and could often be found digging in her garden and harvesting tomatoes, carrots, squash, and green beans well into her 80s. Apples, plums, and pears in season could always be found at her home along with her gigantic ancient rhubarb plant given to her by her mother.

Elaine Lorraine James will be remembered as a loving and supportive mother and grandmother, an excellent homemaker and cook, a successful gardener, a planter and lover of flowers, a good neighbor, an artist of untapped potential, a dryer of tears, and the cheering call from the sidelines; in short, the salt of the earth...A beloved daughter of God and a mother of generations.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 22, at Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home, 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, where a viewing will be held one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Rupert Cemetery.

A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available at the following link: https://youtu.be/PITi52Rltgo.