Vilda Mae Naegle Forster

Vilda Mae Naegle Forster lived a beautiful and dedicated life and passed away peacefully in the early morning of Monday March 10th, 2025 at Jamestown Assisted Living in Provo Utah. On Wednesday May 16th, 1928 there was great rejoicing in the Naegle home in Cornish, Utah when Vilda was born to Manuel Conrad Naegle and Ann Reese Naegle. She was the proud daughter and granddaughter of German, Swiss and Welsh ancestors, immigrants, Utah pioneers, Mormon Mexico colonists, historic missionaries and devoted members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her identity as a daughter of God was foundational as she lived an exceptional almost 97 years as our loving mother, eternal companion, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, and friend. She truly saw anyone as her neighbor and exemplified this verse from the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 3: 17 “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Vilda was a teacher of faith, wisdom and loving service all of her days on earth.

Vilda was the firstborn and only daughter in the Naegle home and was joined a few years later by her younger brothers Reese and Rey. Her early years of life on a dairy farm were ones of hard honest work, learning, family connections and worship of God. Even though her childhood unfolded during the Great Depression, she remembered living joyfully and abundantly. She treasured memories of her parents sharing a plate of food from their back door with any needy folk passing through the town on the nearby railway. Vilda’s strong character was shaped at the feet of her valiant parents where she learned of faith in God, devotion to family and serving others along her way. Vilda loved to learn and never wanted to waste a moment of precious time, always striving to make the world around her more beautiful. She kept enduring friendships through the years, loved to dress fashionably, enjoyed tap dancing and had a keen knack for memorizing the lyrics to popular music of the day. She graduated with honors from North Cache High School in 1946. She attended Utah State University and Brigham Young University for two years and gained exceptional skills in clerical work. She became a masterful seamstress and always wrote with impeccable penmanship. She followed her Mother and Daddy’s examples and served a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She served with all her heart in the Spanish American Mission from 1949-1951. She loved learning Spanish and was assigned to be the personal secretary to President and Sister Jones in the mission home in El Paso, Texas. Thankfully that office is where she met a fine fellow missionary named Merlin Henry Forster. They met up again at a mission reunion in the fall of 1951 and their lifelong love story took flight. They were sealed in the Logan Temple on April 25th, 1952 and celebrated their 71st anniversary just a few months before Merlin passed away in 2023. Merlin and Vilda ventured away in the first week of marriage from their Utah homeland to pursue an army beginning, a career of higher education and the journey of family life. Every step of the way they supported one another and lived in her own words, “a great and joyous adventure.” They made their home in Washington, Texas, Illinois, along with brief times in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Their final move brought them back home to their Utah roots. Faith, love, service, learning, Spanish and music always filled their home. They were blessed with five children, Celia, David, Angela, Daniel and Elena. They carefully chose English and Spanish-friendly names for each one. Nurturing and growing along with her children in a welcoming and clean home brought momma Vilda her greatest joys. She sewed many of the children's clothes and also found time to skillfully type Merlin’s masters thesis and doctoral dissertation on their kitchen table. She and Merlin encouraged and supported their children as they followed their dreams, found companions and built their own families. She adored becoming a Grandma and spent countless hours traveling to her children’s homes all over the country to help care for new babies, attend their games and performances, read books with them, make them cookies, encourage them to drink their milk, sing songs with them and teach them how to become their best selves. Throughout her life Vilda also worked to help support their family in University and Institute secretarial positions, teaching preschool at the Austin Jewish Community Center, nannying for neighbor children and working for friends in community retail stores. She loved to walk with pep in her step, garden and tend beautiful flowers especially her rose bushes, mend and sew whatever was undone, eat nutritious and well balanced meals and since sleep was sacred, she would always go to bed and wake up with the chickens. Vilda was a champion volunteer and generous giver of her time, talents, means and wisdom. She volunteered at the MTC helping missionaries to learn Spanish. She served in many church callings in the Relief Society, Young Womens and Primary organizations. She loved her years as an early morning seminary teacher, inspiring the young people to increase their faith in God and love of the scriptures. She was a proud member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and greatly enjoyed her associations with her fellow sisters. Temple service was also a unique part of her life especially during her years living in Provo. Vilda faithfully served once a week in the temple until late fall of 2024. She completed vicarious ordinance work for close to 1300 women. She carefully recorded each of their names in her journal where she also consistently recorded her life history and meaningful experiences. She compiled an important record for her children which she entitled, Our Precious Heritage. She loved to write personal notes and letters and remember every family member and friend with a handwritten birthday or holiday card or an uplifting thought. She brought joy and comfort to those in need and to all in her care. She faced the deaths of her dear family members with a remarkable faith in the promise of the resurrection because of her Savior Jesus Christ. In every aspect of her character, Vilda was His true disciple.

Vilda is survived by her children, son-in-law Ben (Celia) Galewsky, Dave (Becky) Forster, Angela (James) Anderson, daughter-in-law Tracy (Daan) Forster, and Elena (Ryan) Robinson. Grandchildren- Zelda, Brandon, Kim, Kyle and Brett, Chris, Gretchen, Lucas, Nicholas and Kirsten, McKenna, Elijah, Zach and Ben, Amanda, Logan, Sophie, Jesse, Max, Dylan and Emma. Great grandchildren- Isabela, Xander, Chauncey, Lucas, Maleia and Lexi, Dakston and Taysom, Chela and Camila, Maddie, Jimbo, Beau and Jane, Hudson and Indigo, Ruby, Rosie, Owen, Stevie, James.

She was preceded in death by her loving parents MC and Ann, her brothers Reese and Rey, her faithful husband Merlin, their beloved children, Daniel and Celia and granddaughter Hope.

In a final act of service, Vilda chose to donate her body to the University of Utah Medical School Donor Program. She was a giver until her last breath and we feel her life of service will be honored with her offering.

Her memorial will be held on Saturday, March 22nd at 10 am MST at Courtyard at Jamestown Assisted Living, 3352 N 100 E, Provo Utah 84604. There will be a link to attend on Zoom can be found on Vilda’s page at Nelson Family Mortuary.

Flowers in honor of Vilda are appreciated, but you may also wish to donate to her favorite charity at https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschrist.org/humanitarian-services

We honor all her of friends and family and wonderful staff of Courtyard at Jamestown and thank them for the supportive caring community they provided for Vilda. We will miss our sweet and strong momma Grandma Rosie Vilda Mae, but we are certain there is great rejoicing once again to have her home with her cherished loved ones.