Stella Mae (Doman) Wilbur was born in a log cabin in Cedarview, Utah, on November 15, 1919. The middle child of eleven, she started school in a one-room schoolhouse. When she turned nine, the family moved to Nyssa, Oregon, where her father farmed. When Stella completed eighth grade, the family moved to Ontario, Oregon. After high school, she held a variety of jobs until she met her future husband, John Lee Wilbur, Jr., DVM., a veterinarian for the US Department of Agriculture.
They were married on September 5, 1942 and had three children. Stella and John traveled the US and abroad together for 51 years. John’s work took them to various towns in Idaho; Lincoln and Ogallala, Nebraska; White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Helena, Montana; Fort Worth and Austin, Texas; and Washington, DC. When he retired, they moved back to Austin near their children. After John passed in 1993, Stella moved to the Georgetown area. At age 95, still footloose, she moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she died at age 99 on March 16, 2019.
Stella treasured family, entertaining friends wherever she lived, traveling, dancing, playing cards, gardening, needlework, designing crafts, and relishing new experiences life sent her. Stella was active in Camp Fire Girls, Eastern Star, Daughters of the Nile, and crocheted five hundred lap robes for the elderly. She was proud she had ridden in both a covered wagon and a super jet airplane. By example, she taught her children that home is not a place, but where family is.
She is survived by her sister Marie Taylor, children Petrena Wilbur, John Lee Wilbur III DDS (Marti), Jay Wilbur (Judy); grandchildren Krystin Elder (Gil), Cindy Akin, John Akin Jr., Erin Akin, Jessica Champion (Adam), Jennette Cross MD (Jason), Jason Wilbur (Lisette), Bryce Wilbur, Glen Wilbur, Peter Kaskan (Cheyenne), Emily Kaskan, Alexandria Barnes, great grandchildren Sylvia Auerbach (JD), Samuel Volluz, Emma Elder, Hannah Elder, Ashley McRae, James Champion, Stella Champion, Maceo Cross, Mira Cross, Sebastian Wilbur Montoto, Isabella Wilbur Montoto, and great great grandson Shawn Volluz. She has also left a host of nieces, nephews, and collected an extended family that was beyond the biological.
Her granddaughter Amanda McRae and great granddaughter Sofia Wilbur Montoto predeceased her.
After a private family service, burial will be at Cook Walden Capital Park, beside her husband John.
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