motivated by love

Clara Pueblo memoir

​December 24, 1925 - March 29, 2025 

Early Roots in Wayne County
Clara Bell Durfey was born December 24, 1925, at home in Bicknell, Utah. She was the seventh of eleven children born to Robert Franklin Durfey and Mary Louisa Ellett Durfey. Their family was rooted in rural Utah values and grounded in the traditions of faith, family, and hard work.

Bicknell and the surrounding Red Canyon area formed the backdrop of Clara’s early years and was a place where the rhythms of life were tied to the seasons, the soil, and the land’s bounty. Summers were devoted to tending fields of potatoes, carrots, onions, and white beans — crops that would sustain the family through harsh winters. Clara helped harvest and store these staples in deep root cellars near their home, learning from an early age how diligence and thrift could buoy a family through lean months.

At just eight years old, Clara was baptized in a river below Bicknell and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 5, 1934. This rite of passage was an anchor for her lifelong faith and community involvement.

Love, War, and New Beginnings
In the midst of World War II, Clara’s life took a dramatic turn. On June 20, 1942, at the tender age of 16, she married Joseph Wesley Wixson. Her commitment was made under the long Utah sky, but the young couple moved to Salt Lake City before Joe enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1943.

While Joe trained in Mojave, California, Clara returned to Provo to stay with family. It was there that she welcomed their first child, JoAnna, in January 1944.

Then came heartbreak. In January 1945, Joe was deployed overseas and by May Clara received the devastating news that he was missing in action. He had been aboard the USS Franklin, one of the Navy’s largest aircraft carriers, when it was struck during operations near Kyushu, Japan, suffering extensive casualties.

Clara was a young mother still in her teens, facing uncertainty and grief with the quiet courage that would define her life.

Building a Family and Life in California
After the war, Clara found new companionship and strength with Willis Henry Pueblo, whom she married on March 2, 1946. Together they relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Willie worked for nearly two decades. Clara grew to love the vibrant city that became home to much of their early family life.

The couple raised five sons, creating a bustling household filled with laughter, chores, school events, and Sunday dinners.  Their time in California shaped many of their children’s formative years. The ocean breezes and urban schools were a stark contrast from Clara’s own rural Utah childhood.

Eventually the Pueblos returned to Utah, living in Price when tragedy struck again. Willie passed away on February 23, 1977, at the Veterans Hospital in Salt Lake City, leaving Clara to raise their two youngest sons on her own.

A Life of Service and Community
Through every challenge and triumph, Clara remained deeply involved with her community and church. For many years, she and her sister Cora Burgess volunteered at Timpanogos Hospital to provide comfort, care, and time to those in need.
Her life was marked not by grandeur but by everyday quiet acts of service, family gatherings, and a living example of resilience. Clara’s home became a hub for grandchildren and great-grandchildren alike with stories and traditions passed warmly from one generation to the next.

Family Legacy and Faith
Clara is remembered as a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt. At the time of her passing, she was survived by her six children: JoAnna (Lee) Stoddard; Donald (Connie) Middleton; Daniel (Gaelynn) Pueblo; Russell (Rhonda) Pueblo; Jeff (Lisa) Pueblo; and Shawn (Trudy) Pueblo — as well as 37 grandchildren, 59 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great-grandchildren.

I met Clara when I was living in Castle Valley. She and her two youngest sons lived just up the valley. She was always positive, encouraging, friendly, and kind. I was impressed by how her children and grandchildren adored her.

Her legacy extends beyond names and numbers. It lives in every shared meal, every conversation around a kitchen table, every challenge faced with faith, and every story her descendants will tell about the strength and love of their matriarch.

Final Reflections
Clara Bell Durfey Wixson Pueblo passed away March 29, 2025 at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, at the remarkable age of 99. She spent her final years surrounded by family at Grandview in Provo, leaving behind a richly woven tapestry of lives touched and hearts uplifted.

Her life reminds us that even the most ordinary circumstances — rural upbringing, young marriage, wartime loss, years of motherhood — can become extraordinary through love, endurance, and the countless quiet sacrifices that forge families and fortify communities.