Cara Singleton

1919 - 2010

Cara K. Singleton, 91, passed away March 19, 2010 in Rexburg. She was born March 14, 1919, in St. Anthony to Karl and Genevieve Cardon Klingler. Cara was the second child in a family of two sisters and four brothers.
She spent her childhood in St. Anthony swimming in the river, reading books and enjoying life. After her graduation from high school in 1937, her family moved to Rexburg, and she attended Ricks College. After some health problems, she transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She later transferred to Utah State University to be closer to her mother's family, and graduated in home economics.
At USU she met and married Robert A. Zirker on May 15, 1942, in the Logan Temple. They moved to northern Idaho, where Bob was an entomologist in the Army. That fall Cara taught home economics in Moreland, and Bob moved around the country with the Army. In June 1943 she joined Bob at Army bases in Texas, Illinois and Georgia before moving to Jackson, Miss., where their son John was born. Bob served with an officer's pool in Panama and France and was being shipped to the Pacific when his health was reassessed. They found he had cancer and sent him back to the U.S. on sick leave. Bob and Cara added another son, Douglas, while Bob was stationed on the Mexican-Arizona border. Bob's cancer worsened, and he died in 1947. Cara brought her boys back to Rexburg to be close to her parents.
Cara worked as a home demonstration agent for the University of Idaho where part of her responsibilities was working with the 4-H programs. She went to the University of Utah in 1948 to get her education certificate and then returned to Rexburg, where she again worked in extension in the courthouses in Rigby and St. Anthony.
There she met Ben T. Newman, a patrolman with the Idaho State Police. They married Feb. 21, 1953, in Rexburg. Cara and Ben had two sons, Jim and David. Cara stayed home with the boys until 1961 when she started teaching home economics at Madison High School. Ben died in 1962 of a heart attack while working on a stormy night on the road from Newdale to Tetonia.
Cara raised her four boys with the assistance of her parents. She was an active member in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving in many callings. She worked as a professor at Ricks College from 1971 to 1976, at which time she went back to the University of Idaho Extension Program working in Madison and Teton Counties until her retirement in 1984. She again worked with the youth in the 4-H program, summer camps, the Madison County and Eastern Idaho State Fairs, and women's educational programs throughout the region. She was a tremendous influence and resource for the community.
After retiring, she married Jesse Singleton on April 11, 1984, in the Idaho Falls Temple. They lived the next 17 years in Wilford, where she was mother and grandmother to his children and grandchildren. She worked side by side with Jess on his dairy farm and loved her years in Wilford as well as the wonderful people of Wilford. Jesse died in 2001. Cara then moved back to Rexburg, where she enjoyed being by her family.
Cara is survived by her children John (Gerry) Zirker of Rexburg, Douglas (Vivian) of Bend, Ore., Jim (Karen) Newman of Rexburg and David (Deidre) Newman of Logan, Utah; 16 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren; her sister Ruth (Carlile) Eyre of Cowley, Wyo.; stepchildren Sally Mearse of Auburn, Calif., Terry (Marsha) Singleton of Ucon, Kay (Wes) White and Linda Shaw of Mesa, Ariz., Gay (Ken) Patterson of Twin Falls, Jana (Rand) Hillman of Wilford and Ann (Dennis) Cook of Milo; 33 grandchildren and 66 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her three husbands, her parents; her sister Dawn Webb; her four brothers, Cardon, Thomas, Quentin and Phillipe; and one great-grandson, Oscar Loomis Newberry.
Viewings will take place at the Flamm Funeral Home from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 21, and prior to the services on Monday from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Rexburg 14th Ward LDS church, 590 Summerwood Drive. The funeral will be held at the Rexburg 14th Ward LDS church on Monday, March 22, 2010, at 11 a.m. Burial will be at the Rexburg City Cemetery.
Cara was a warm and caring person, always interested in being with and helping friends and family. We will miss you, Mom, Grandma, and Little Grandma-Great!