Ramona Plato
Now joyfully reunited with her parents and other loved ones, Ramona Mae Holmes Plato passed quietly through the veil Wednesday, Dec. 21.
The youngest of four children, Ramona was the second daughter born to James Otto and Eva Mae Holmes, in Ransom, Kansas on Jan. 15, 1930. The Dust Bowl and Great Depression influenced the families’ move to the Deer Park Community north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho in 1935, where Ramona and her siblings grew up attending Copeland School and graduated from Bonners Ferry High School.
At the age of 18, Ramona married John Gale Plato on June 30, 1948, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The young couple did some moving around the northwest, had their first two children, and eventually settled in Bonners Ferry, Idaho to make a life and raise their family. It was during this time that Gale and Ramona became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were sealed in the Cardston, Alberta LDS Temple on June 20, 1964. The Platos remained in Bonners Ferry until 1997, when a yearning to be near their children and grandchildren led them to Santaquin, Utah.
With a desire to be involved and a love for each community she lived in, Ramona’s willingness to give of her time and talents became a way of life as she served tirelessly in her church as the Relief Society President, in the community as a member of the HEO (Help Each Other) Club and of many other community clubs, organizations, and service oriented groups. Ramona spent many hours devoted to church service and family which led her to recognize her love for both family history and gardening, which she devoted both her time and talents to for many years. Her family history work even had her making friends with a computer and the internet in her determination to seek out generations of Holmes and Plato relatives.
Ramona was an amazing cook and could always make the most meager set of ingredients into a meal fit for a king. With a lifelong willingness to always share whatever she had, these wonderful meals could appear out of nowhere and brought joy to her family, friends, and neighbors for decades.
Ramona loved nature and enjoyed camping, fishing, and picking huckleberries in the mountains of Bonners Ferry and during her childhood in Kansas, developed a love of Sunflowers that would later inspire the theme in her Santaquin home.
Blessed with a tender heart that always had plenty of love to give, Ramona, known as Grandma to many, had a gift for attracting whomever or whatever needed nurturing. Before long, this attraction had quickly manifest an unspoken but widely recognized “all are welcome” association with Ramona and the Plato home and led to Ramona welcoming a varying number of stray cats, dogs, and neighborhood children no matter where she lived. Such a tender heart was the perfect companion to Ramona’s love and commitment to motherhood, which seemed to know no bounds and allowed her the honor of raising four loving Schnauzer children: Scooter, Tuffy, Heidi, and Murphy, who experienced no less care and devotion than her human children John, Wanda, Ferrill, and Jared.
Finally ready to slow down just a bit, Ramona and Gale moved into Seasons of Santaquin Assisted Living in February of this year, where they have enjoyed their own version of life’s perfect surroundings, beautiful scenery and dear friends. The entire Plato family feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude for First Choice Home Health Care and Hospice and the caring Season’s staff for their tireless efforts toward making Gale and Ramona a part of the Seasons family.
Ramona is survived by: her husband of 69 years, Gale Plato of Santaquin, Utah, her children, Wanda (Gene) Jones of Salem, Utah, John (Cindy) Plato of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Ferrill (Brooke) Bancroft of Payson, Utah, Jared (Kate) Plato of Pleasant Grove, Utah, 21 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, six great-great grandchildren, her sister, Larena Daniel of Sandpoint, Idaho, and a brother, Cecil Holmes of Spokane, Wash.
She was preceded in death by her parents Otto and Eva Holmes, her brother, Edward Holmes, and grandson, Tanner James Plato.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, Dec. 28, with interment immediately following at Santaquin City Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Ramona’s memory be made to either the Boundary County Museum or Santaquin Senior Center.
Expressions of condolence and fond memories may be shared online at www.brownfamilymortuary.com