Obituary for Wilma June Wonderlich
Wilma June Todd Wonderlich passed away on Friday, May 20, 2022, at the age of 97. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at 1:00 PM at Church of the Ascension, 371 Eastland Dr. N, Twin Falls, Idaho.
Wilma “Butch” Wonderlich was born June 8, 1924 to father, Eddie Linsey Todd and mother, Lela Lea Cook Todd, in Eureka, KS. She graduated from Eureka High School in 1942, and from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in Wichita, KS in 1945. She was working as a registered nurse at the University of Kansas Student Hospital in Lawrence, KS, when she met Lyle E. “Doc” Wonderlich who was interning there for the summer.
The day after Doc’s graduation from medical school, they were married on June 17, 1947, then they traveled to Salt Lake City, UT, where Doc was to serve a rotating internship at the University of Utah. After the internship, Butch and Doc returned to Kansas and lived in Osborne, and Concordia before moving to Biloxi, MS, and Denver, CO, then finally settling in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Butch served as the Director of Epochs for Job’s Daughters Bethel 56 (Twin Falls) for 30 years (1974-2003), and was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension for 68 years, serving as a Lay Reader and Eucharistic Minister, as well as on Altar Guild.
Doc and Butch bred and owned many championship horses on their RoseAcre Farm west of Twin Falls. They were active in the formation and growth of the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), where both served in a number of leadership roles. Butch served as President of the APHA in 1981 - the first female president of a major equine registry. When asked the reason she and Doc owned horses, she said, “You can teach a child almost everything that he needs to learn about life through involvement with horses. Responsibility, compassion, loyalty, the power of observation, life, and even death . . . it is all there.” And involvement is the key word to the approach she took about everything in her life—from the Paint Horses, the breed, the APHA and its leadership, down to her family, church and friends. To quote a friend from the APHA, “Her diminutive size housed a powerful loyalty to the breed and to the APHA. It also contained a razor-sharp mind that could close like a bear trap on any given matter, cutting like a knife to the point with ease. Pointed questions and a piercing eye would let you know she means business. . . . She was a larger than life lady, who lent style, grace and humor to everything she did.” Doc and Butch were inducted into the Paint Horse Hall of Fame in 2012.
Doc and Butch produced seven children: Sue Ann Wonderlich Young of Centralia, WA; Dr. Lyle R. Wonderlich, deceased; Dr. Steven T. Wonderlich (Jenee) of Kaneohe, HI; Fritz A. Wonderlich (Jackie Wakefield) of Meridian, ID; John D. Wonderlich, deceased; Nancy J. Wonderlich Koonce of Twin Falls, ID; and Vance L. Wonderlich (Linda Hoffman) of Bend, OR.
They have fourteen grandchildren: Tanya Young Pallas (Mike) of Chehalis, WA; Todd Young of Arlington, VA; Travis Young (Amy) of Denver, CO; Troy Young (Jason) of Salt Lake City, UT; Brian Wonderlich (Megan Mooney) of Boise, ID; Jason Wonderlich (Meghan) of Nampa, ID; John Wonderlich (Sara) of Boise, ID; Lisa Wonderlich of Kaneohe, HI; Elizabeth Oler of Meridian, ID; Thomas Wonderlich (Whitney) of Cottonwood, ID; Katherine Shuh (Tim) of Meridian, ID; Amanda Miller of Louisville, CO; Arin Daigneau (Troy) of Craig, CO; and Adam Koonce of Boise, ID
They also have nineteen great-grandchildren.
Doc passed away on December 30, 2012.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Paint Horse Foundation (P. O. Box 961023, Ft. Worth, TX 76161) or to the Wonderlich Family Endowment (c/o Idaho Episcopal Foundation, 1858 W Judith Lane, Boise, ID 83705).
Wilma “Butch” Wonderlich was born June 8, 1924 to father, Eddie Linsey Todd and mother, Lela Lea Cook Todd, in Eureka, KS. She graduated from Eureka High School in 1942, and from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in Wichita, KS in 1945. She was working as a registered nurse at the University of Kansas Student Hospital in Lawrence, KS, when she met Lyle E. “Doc” Wonderlich who was interning there for the summer.
The day after Doc’s graduation from medical school, they were married on June 17, 1947, then they traveled to Salt Lake City, UT, where Doc was to serve a rotating internship at the University of Utah. After the internship, Butch and Doc returned to Kansas and lived in Osborne, and Concordia before moving to Biloxi, MS, and Denver, CO, then finally settling in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Butch served as the Director of Epochs for Job’s Daughters Bethel 56 (Twin Falls) for 30 years (1974-2003), and was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension for 68 years, serving as a Lay Reader and Eucharistic Minister, as well as on Altar Guild.
Doc and Butch bred and owned many championship horses on their RoseAcre Farm west of Twin Falls. They were active in the formation and growth of the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), where both served in a number of leadership roles. Butch served as President of the APHA in 1981 - the first female president of a major equine registry. When asked the reason she and Doc owned horses, she said, “You can teach a child almost everything that he needs to learn about life through involvement with horses. Responsibility, compassion, loyalty, the power of observation, life, and even death . . . it is all there.” And involvement is the key word to the approach she took about everything in her life—from the Paint Horses, the breed, the APHA and its leadership, down to her family, church and friends. To quote a friend from the APHA, “Her diminutive size housed a powerful loyalty to the breed and to the APHA. It also contained a razor-sharp mind that could close like a bear trap on any given matter, cutting like a knife to the point with ease. Pointed questions and a piercing eye would let you know she means business. . . . She was a larger than life lady, who lent style, grace and humor to everything she did.” Doc and Butch were inducted into the Paint Horse Hall of Fame in 2012.
Doc and Butch produced seven children: Sue Ann Wonderlich Young of Centralia, WA; Dr. Lyle R. Wonderlich, deceased; Dr. Steven T. Wonderlich (Jenee) of Kaneohe, HI; Fritz A. Wonderlich (Jackie Wakefield) of Meridian, ID; John D. Wonderlich, deceased; Nancy J. Wonderlich Koonce of Twin Falls, ID; and Vance L. Wonderlich (Linda Hoffman) of Bend, OR.
They have fourteen grandchildren: Tanya Young Pallas (Mike) of Chehalis, WA; Todd Young of Arlington, VA; Travis Young (Amy) of Denver, CO; Troy Young (Jason) of Salt Lake City, UT; Brian Wonderlich (Megan Mooney) of Boise, ID; Jason Wonderlich (Meghan) of Nampa, ID; John Wonderlich (Sara) of Boise, ID; Lisa Wonderlich of Kaneohe, HI; Elizabeth Oler of Meridian, ID; Thomas Wonderlich (Whitney) of Cottonwood, ID; Katherine Shuh (Tim) of Meridian, ID; Amanda Miller of Louisville, CO; Arin Daigneau (Troy) of Craig, CO; and Adam Koonce of Boise, ID
They also have nineteen great-grandchildren.
Doc passed away on December 30, 2012.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Paint Horse Foundation (P. O. Box 961023, Ft. Worth, TX 76161) or to the Wonderlich Family Endowment (c/o Idaho Episcopal Foundation, 1858 W Judith Lane, Boise, ID 83705).