Myrla Plant

Myrla Jeanne Plant passed away on the morning of Sunday, January 12, 2020, in Jerome, Idaho at the age of 79.

Myrla was born on March 1, 1940 in Riverside, California to Leland and Mabel Jule.  She grew up in Long Beach, CA with her brothers, Theron, Dale, and Gary Jule, and lived in Southern CA for most of her adult life. She moved to Idaho in 2006.

Her parents were one of a few families that helped to plant a church known then as The First Baptist Church of Lakewood (now known as Arbor Road Church) in 1947 in Southern California. Myrla was the first person baptized at the church.  She was 7 years old.

She attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California and graduated as a part of the very first class of Robert A. Millikan High School in Long Beach, California in 1957 at the age of 17.   She attended Long Beach City College, Liberty Online University, and also received certification as an Activities Director for seniors.

She married Ronald Harvey Plant in Long Beach, California on October 26, 1958 when she was 18, and he was 26. In August of 1959, Ron and Myrla began their family together, welcoming Denine, then Janis, Wendy, Darrin, and Julie.

Myrla valued family and gathering together and often welcomed other people to come on in and be a part of the Plant family chaos.  She freely welcomed in people who needed a place to stay for a while. She didn’t care for things to be orderly, structured, or perfect, but she enjoyed laughter, family dinners, and lots of noise and activity.  She never minded a house crowded with people.  She loved to buy presents for people to tell them that they belonged.

She was known for her elaborate, detailed, creative parties, and one time when she invited 61 people to her home for a sweet-sixteen party for one of her daughters, 60 people showed up to a party that people talked fondly about for years to come.

Myrla encouraged her children to be creative and to pursue writing, art, music, drama, and film.  She always pushed them to be their best, and she was proud of their accomplishments.  She taught them to make God, church, and ministry a priority in their lives and to value the Bible and know it well.

Myrla worked for the Long Beach School District, then stayed home with her children when they were young, then worked with her husband Ron, managing his office, and then held various other office management jobs over the years.

The First Baptist Church of Lakewood would continue to play a significant role in Myrla’s life and in the life of her family.  She attended Sunday services and Wednesday night Bible studies regularly for many years.  Early on she sang in choirs, and later she worked in Children’s ministry and was known as “Woody” to the children there.  She also ran an after-school daycare.

She would go on to be involved in church wherever she lived for the rest of her life, often teaching Sunday School for children or women’s Bible studies. Most recently, she taught a class for seniors at NorthRidge Fellowship Church in Jerome, Idaho.

Myrla was creative and artistic and over the years designed sets and backdrops, created elaborate costumes for her children, wrote poetry, played the piano and sang and taught her children to do the same.  She helped her children with school projects, always moving towards the beautiful, elaborate, and detailed.

Her dad taught her to read when she was only 3 years old, and she read thousands of books in her lifetime, often reading more than a dozen in a single week.  The library was a great treasure to her.

She had a good sense of humor and a deep and infectious laugh, which some described as “laughing all the way to her toes.”  She would laugh at her husband, Ron’s many colorful stories, even as she would caution him to be careful about giving the kids ideas, looking at him with a raised eyebrow and saying sternly, “Ron!”

Ron and Myrla were married for 61 years.  Myrla said the key to a long marriage was to forgive each other and have a good sense of humor.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Leland and Mabel Jule; and her brothers, Dale Jule and his wife Verna; and Gary Jule.

Myrla is survived by her husband, Ron Plant; her children and their spouses, Denine and Jim Wolden; Janis and Tad Walton; Wendy and Roy Clark; Darrin and Kathy Plant; and Julie Gaudrault; her stepdaughter and her husband, Denise and Mike Hayward; her 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren; her brother, Theron Jule, and 7 nieces and nephews.

Please join us as we remember and honor Myrla and celebrate her life on

Saturday, February 1, 2020, at 11 AM at NorthRidge Fellowship in Jerome, Idaho.  Pastor Mickie Kelly will officiate the ceremony.

You are invited to join us for a lunch reception after the service at the church and are also invited to bring a potluck dish to share. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Myrla's life.

Please send cards and flowers to NorthRidge Fellowship, 456 Golf Course Rd, Jerome, Idaho 83338.

Myrla was laid to rest at Jerome Cemetery, Jerome, Idaho.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Myrla’s memorial webpage at www.farnsworthmortuary.com.