Irma Ruth Mountain

Irma Ruth Mountain passed peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday morning, December 10, 2019, at the Harmony Home in Yuma, Colorado. She was 95.

A Yuma native, Irma was born on June 17, 1924, the youngest of four children, to Ruth Beryl Bash Atkinson and Lawrence Walter Atkinson. Her mother died in childbirth when Irma was only three, so she was raised by her father with the help of her grandparents, George and Jennie Atkinson and Otis and Myrtle Bash.

Irma and her sweetheart, Kenneth Mountain graduated from Yuma High in 1942. While Kenneth fought in WW II with the Marines, she worked at the J.C. Penney-Snedeker store on Main Street and lived with Tina and Gib Carpenter. Irma and Kenneth’s letters to each other during the war were written in a special, pre-arranged code so she would always know where he was and that he was safe.

On Kenneth’s return, they were married on January 23, 1946. After his parents retired from farming and moved to town, Kenneth and Irma took over the family farm Northwest of Yuma.

They raised three boys, Bob, Steve and Terry and farmed together for over 50 years. Irma was able to continue farming after her beloved husband died in 2003 with the help of her sons and supportive input from their good neighbors.

Irma loved the farm life but also had a rich social life. She was active in the Prairie View Extension Club, Grange, Red Willow School District, Ladies Aid Society, Family Advisory Board for the Yuma Nursing Home and a founding member of Yuma District Hospital Auxiliary. 

Irma and Kenneth were actively involved in square dance and neighborhood card parties. She loved music and sang beautiful harmony. Her contagious laugh came easily and often. Smart, quick witted and deeply committed to her family, Irma will be profoundly missed.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brother Robert, sisters Arlene and Marjorie and the love of her life, her husband, Kenneth.

Irma is survived by her three sons and their families: Robert E. (Mary) of Laramie, Wyoming, Steven K. (Stephanie) of Santa Barbara, California, and Terry L. (Rose) of Hutchinson, Kansas, six grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, and one sister-in-law, Veora Mountain (Aunt Daisy) of Beaverton, Oregon.

Services were arranged by Baucke Funeral Home and held at the Yuma Presbyterian Church, officiated by Pastor Jamie Fiorino, on Monday, December 16, 2019.  Interment followed at the Yuma Cemetery.

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