Idora Wortman

Idora Irene Wortman passed away on November 29, 2022 at age 93, just 17 days short of her 94th birthday. She was born on the family farm near Glencross on December 16, 1928 to Jacob and Elizabeth Reis Kraft, the 8th of 16 children. She attended grade school in a small country school about a mile from the farm and graduated from Timber Lake High School in 1948.

Even with all the hard work on the prairie farms, there was a little time left for dancing, which is where the beautiful Idora met her future husband from Isabel. In 1948, in Timber Lake, she married the handsome and charming Marion Wortman, with whom she would spend the next 59 years, until his death in 2007.

Their first year together tested them as farmers during the devastating winter of 1949. They then followed road construction across Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico for many years. Along the way, they had twelve children. In 1966, they settled in Lander, WY where their thirteenth child was born. Most of her life was dedicated to caring for her children and she became skilled in many areas…baking, cooking, sewing, canning, gardening, crocheting, tending sick kids, doing laundry, carpentry, and constant housekeeping, to mention a few.

From 1965 to 1986 Idora also worked outside the home. Some of her jobs were at Westward Heights Nursing Home, and Wyoming State Training School in the Health Care Center where she became good friends with Doc Mary.

Idora and Marion were raised in the Catholic faith and Idora was active in the St. Anne’s Altar Society in Lander for whom she sewed many items, especially mittens, and baked many dishes and loaves of bread to help with fundraisers. Craft fairs became a constant endeavor, with Idora making her famous crocheted rugs and angels, beaded ornaments and jewelry, wreaths, and dried flower arrangements. She also spent many hours making baby blankets to donate to Abba House.

Many weekends were spent with the family up in the mountains cutting firewood, on hikes and picnics, or in the desert hunting rocks. As the children grew up, Idora and Marion started going to their much beloved Wiggins Fork outside of Dubois, WY, establishing a family tradition that is now in its fourth generation. They also began the Snow Bird trips south in the winter, enjoying the companionship of many seniors at Quartzite, AZ.

In 2006, Idora and Marion moved to Hudson, WY where she lived after Marion’s death. In 2017, she moved to Riverton to an independent living apartment where she made friends and enjoyed potluck dinners, pinochle, and bingo.

She was survived by her children Claudia (Gary) Weger of Pagosa Springs, CO, Michaela (Michael) Dabich of Hudson, WY, Suzanne (Joe Paul) Crofts of Lander, WY, Karen (Jim) Wallis of Reno, NV, Shawn Wortman of Lander, WY (who died May 28, 2023), Barbara (Darrin) Goyn of Sheridan, WY, Joseph Wortman of Carlin, NV, Christine Quinn of Bozeman, MT, Michael (Jackie) Wortman of Cheyenne, WY, and Thomas (Renee) Wortman of Reno, NV; 30 grandchildren, and 43 great-grandchildren; and three siblings: Edie Scherer, Marie Klein, and Fred Kraft.

Preceding her in death were her husband, Marion Wortman; her parents; three children: Marie Fowler, Kevin Wortman, and Teresa Conine; son-in-law Larry Fowler and daughter- in-law Jamie Lynn Wortman; twelve brothers and sisters: Tony Kraft, Claudius Kraft, Edward Kraft, Eleanor Kraft, Gene Kraft, Herman Kraft, Andrew Kraft, Helen Bracken, Francis Kraft, Jack Kraft, David Kraft, and Dick Kraft; and many in-laws.

A memorial and Catholic mass will be held later in the summer of 2023.

Arrangements are under the direction of Davis Funeral Home, Crematory, and Monuments.