Idaho State Journal, 07/27/10




MONTPELIER - Edra Bunn, 81, passed away at Bear Lake Memorial Skilled Nursing Facility in Montpelier, Idaho, on Sunday, July 25, 2010, following an extended illness.

Edra was born to James Elmo and Velma Johnston Bunn on April 29, 1929, in Paris, Idaho. The family moved to Montpelier when she was 6 years old. Following graduation from Montpelier High School, after working for M.H. King Co. for four years, she went to work at Mountain States Telephone in Montpelier as a telephone operator. In 1955, she transferred with the telephone company to Boise, Idaho, where she read in the classifieds section of the newspaper an ad for on-site X-ray technician training at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

She was accepted into the program fulfilling a lifetime desire to work in the medical field. She trained as an X-ray technician and was later given the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of mammography. With on-site training and schooling in San Francisco, California, she helped to set up the first mammography department at Holy Cross Hospital, where she worked until she retired in 1984. She then moved home to Montpelier to take care of her ailing mother, who passed away in 1989.

Edra was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where she held many positions, her favorite being transcriber for the stake patriarch.

Edra was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Todd J. Bunn, and sister-in-law, Ruth Widmer Bunn. She is survived by one sister, Karen Bunn (William D. - deceased) Hayes of Georgetown; one niece, Valerie Ann Hayes Ross of Murray, Utah; three nephews, Jonathan B. Hayes of Georgetown, Idaho, Matt W. Bunn of Nampa, Idaho, and Conn J. Bunn of Nampa, Idaho; and many great-nieces, and great-nephews, all of whom she loved dearly.

The graveside service will be held at the Paris, Idaho Cemetery at noon on Saturday, July 31, 2010.