Rella passed away peacefully on the afternoon of December 23, 2025, at the Gables Care Center in Ammon, Idaho, in the loving arms of her daughter, Trudy Williams.
She was born on June 30, 1930, in Salem, Idaho, the youngest of eight children born to James Ervin Olsen and Gladys Almina Allen Olsen. She was preceded in death by her two brothers, Milton (Betty) Olsen and Donald Olsen (Naomi, Edna), and her five sisters: Bernice (Clayton) Yarber, Clara Friedman (Joe), Dorothy Dixon (Wilford, E. W. “Jake” Jacobsen, Ray Luffman), Elaine Moss (Burt Dannenberg, Clyde D. Moss), and Donna Welch (Stanley).
Rella moved several times throughout Teton and Madison Counties during her childhood and graduated from Madison County High School.
She met Gerald Stewart at the Roxy Movie Theater in Teton, Idaho, where she worked at the candy counter. Gerald thought she was cute, left the movie, and went to talk to her. On June 30, 1948, Rella married Gerald John Stewart in the Idaho Falls Temple. They began their married life in a humble wooden shed Gerald had built, later moving to an apartment in St. Anthony during the winter, where their first daughter, Lana, was born.
In 1950, they moved to Stevensville and later Hamilton, Montana, where Gerald managed farms and worked at the Rocky Mountain Research Lab for the U.S. Health Department. Their second daughter, Melonie, was born in Montana.
In 1953, they moved to the Lost River Valley, where Gerald purchased a farm and worked at the Atomic Energy Commission. There, they raised their five children: Lana Sue Stewart; Melonie (Chris) Crnich; Trudy Kay (Brett) Williams; Gerald Craig (Jackie) Stewart; and Tauna Lee (Steven) Brewer. Rella is survived by her children, 17 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
Rella loved her babies and was a devoted mother. She had a fondness for collecting porcelain dolls and antique furniture, creating what she lovingly referred to as her “antique museum,” which included an iron-framed bed, a pedal sewing machine, and a cast-iron wood-burning stove.
She was an excellent quilter and knitter, sewing many clothes for her family and teaching her daughters how to knit and sew. She worked tirelessly on the farm, especially while Gerald was away, irrigating, moving sprinkler pipes, roguing, weeding, watering, and harvesting potatoes for seed. She often took her son Craig with her while irrigating when he was small.
Once her children were all in school, Rella worked at the IGA grocery store cutting and packaging meat and stocking shelves, and later at the A&A store in Arco. She also drove the Butte County school bus and later drove a van for the Arco Senior Citizens, transporting them to medical appointments, shopping trips, and outings throughout the area. She even tried her hand at wedding event planning and decorating, once designing a parade float with her grandchildren posing as a bride and groom.
Rella loved gardening—both flowers and vegetables—and many summers she drove a flatbed truck to Montana to pick raspberries for canning for her family and others in the valley.
She was very involved in the VFW organization in Arco, serving as president, assisting with Memorial Day and Veterans Day services, military funerals, highway cleanups, and community meals. She also served as Vice President and President of the PTA for several years.
Rella was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings, including Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society. After Gerald retired from the Atomic Energy Commission in 1979, they spent many winter months in Quartzsite, Arizona, enjoying the warmer weather, making new friends, and spending time with Rella’s sister Elaine and her husband.
A viewing will be held at Anderson Family Funeral Home on Friday, January 2, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. A second viewing will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2026, from 12:00 to 12:45 p.m. prior to the funeral service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Moore Stake Center in Moore, Idaho. Funeral services will begin at 1:00 p.m., with interment to follow at the Lost River Cemetery.
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