Faun Lundgren Neilson

Fauntelle’ (Faun) Clarke Lundgren Neilson, 88, of Idaho Falls, passed away Sunday, August 7, 2016, at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

Faun was born January 20, 1928, in Boise, Idaho, to Harden H. Clarke and Laura Matilda Gardner Clarke. She was the oldest of four children. She lived most of her life in Eastern Idaho and Utah. She attended schools in Utah and Idaho, and she also attended Brigham Young University.

On March 6, 1954, she married Grant Earnest Lundgren in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. They lived in Provo, UT; Brigham City, UT; Seattle, WA; and Shelley, ID. They were the parents of six daughters and one son. Faun was a wife, mother and homemaker. She taught sixth grade for a few years and loved every minute of it. She later married Virgil Albert Neilson on April 11, 1998, in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. They lived in Shoshone, Idaho, and in Idaho Falls.

An active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served in many callings but enjoyed teaching the youth the most. She served five full-time or stake missions for the Church as a young woman and also while married. Faun was the first American young single woman called to serve an LDS mission in Japan in November 1949. She spent most of her two years in the cities of Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Takasaki. At the time there was only one organized branch of the Church in Japan. She developed a life-long love for the people and culture of Japan. She and Virgil served as full-time missionaries in the Roseville, California mission in 2000-2002, and in the Pocatello, Idaho mission in 2006.

Faun is survived by her daughters, Laura Chugg and Felicia (Robb) McCann, both of Salem, OR; Elyse (Kent) Browning, Torri (Curtis) Burtenshaw, both of Idaho Falls, Machel (Charles) Gallegos of West Valley, UT, Stephanie (Paul) Adamson of Aberdeen, ID; her son, Gregg Lundgren of Northglenn, CO; sister, Colleen Sorenson of Tallahassee, FL; brother, Hal (MaryAnn) Clarke of Provo, UT; 21 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren. In addition, seven stepchildren and their spouses and families.

She was preceded in death by her parents; both her first and second husbands; her brother, Chad Clarke; daughter-in-law, Helen Lundgren; and four great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at Wood Funeral Home, 273 N. Ridge Avenue in Idaho Falls. The family will visit with friends from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services at the funeral home. Burial will be in Parker Cemetery in Parker, Idaho.

Funeral Services will be held