Valier (Roos) Waring

Valier Roos Waring

On July 13, 1928, Valier (Val) Roos was born in Afton, Wyoming, the youngest of 11 children (eight girls and three boys). Delivered by her Grandma Sessions', who was an experienced midwife with twelve children of her own, Val would lose her mother to a tooth infection at the young age of 37 (Sept. 25, 1928), only a few days after Val turned two months old.

With eleven children to care for – five children under the age of five – Val's father had her raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, by her mother's sister, Valora, and her husband, Don, who were unable to have children of their own.

At thirty-one years old, Valora suffered a stroke, and Val was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Shortly after, Don was killed in a horse accident, so Valora and Val went to live with Grandma Sessions in Star Valley, where her cousin Hilda was being raised after losing her own mother to pneumonia.

Connected by their shared losses, Val and Hilda became like sisters. With Grandma Sessions and Valora in poor health, the two essentially cared for the family home. But they also shared many happy experiences as they grew up together, especially with the many visits from uncles and aunts, cousins and friends, that were always dropping in for one of Grandma’s meals.

It was during this time that Val learned how to cook, bake, and make her own preserves. Yet, while Val was surrounded by many people growing up, she often felt distant from her other siblings, which created a sense of loneliness that carried with her throughout her life.

In her high school years, Val babysat local children before working as a soda jerk, grocery store clerk, and at a movie theater and airplane plant. High school was a fun time for Val, and she had fond memories of taking the bus to Turnerville or meeting up with her  sisters Wanda and Wilda.

After graduation, Val couldn’t wait to leave Star Valley to find her fortune, so she moved in with her sisters in Ogden, Utah, sleeping on a cot on a screened front porch before moving to the YWCA. It was there Val met her future husband, Frank Smith, and the two were married on March 23, 1947, in Logan, Utah. Together they had five children. The two later divorced.

In 1980, Val met Arthur Morris at a church dance. She always considered Art her sweetheart and best friend. The two were married on November 26, 1982. In March 1986, Art was diagnosed with leukemia. He passed away on December 3, 1988, and Val missed him terribly.

Val later reconnected with Gordon Waring, who was a classmate at Star Valley High School. Both recently widowed, Gordon reached out after a class reunion, and the two were married on 10 October 1991.

Moving from Mesa, Arizona, to Apache Junction, and finally to Las Vegas, Gordon and Val split their time between Vegas and another home in Smoot, Wyoming. Val passed away peacefully in her Las Vegas home on August 29, 2023.

Valier Roos Waring is survived by her five children, Kris – deceased (Larry), Ken "Yogi" (Kitty), Jennie (Dan), Matt (Kami), and Cam (Adriana), as well as many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Val was an exceptional person and will be missed by all.

Details on the memorial service to honor Val’s life and legacy follow.

Date: September 16, 2023

Time: 11 a.m.

Location: Schwab Mortuary

Address: 44 East 4th Ave.

Afton, WY 83110

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