Ellesa Emer Jackson Day Ekker passed away peacefully in the early hours of Feb. 21, 2022, at the age of 90.
Ellesa was born in Moab on Feb. 20, 1932, to John Jackson and Sinda Cordova Jackson. She attended Grand County High School, during which she worked at Allen Memorial Hospital (now Moab Regional Hospital) as a nurse’s aide. She married Lester Hugh Day in 1950 and the couple moved to Toole, Utah, where Ellesa was nominated for the Army Queen Award.
Ellesa and Lester moved to La Sal, where they lived with their two young children before moving back to Moab where she worked at Fern’s Café, the Toot-N-Tel Um Drive-In, and Moab Apparel. She retired from City Market after 30 years of service. She loved baking and serving cookies to all the children of Moab. After Ellesa retired, she met and married Darys Ekker and moved to Hanksville, where they created many fond memories together.
Ellesa was sweet, kind, loving, and generous. Her children and grandchildren were the light of her life. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, cooking, and canning and had a love for embracing nature, hiking and hunting for arrowheads.
Ellesa was a member of the Moab Seventh Day Adventist Church. Her belief in God kept her strong and she was an inspiration to everyone around her.
Ellesa was preceded in death by her parents, John and Sinda Jackson; her husband, Lester Hugh Day; her husband, Darys Ekker, daughter, Julie Anne Day; brothers, Jim, Jack, and Joe Jackson; sisters, Alice Olson, and Opal Lemon; grand-children, Johnathan, Anthony, and Sinda Bradshaw; and great-grandchild Sincear Degraffenreid.
Ellesa is survived by her children, Shurlene Emer (Joseph) Blair, Ellesa Denette (Troy) Beason, Hazel Dalton, and Lester Arthur (Shelly) Day; her sons-in-law Kay Dalton, Greg Lathrom, and Lynn Bradshaw; her grandchildren Eli, Lucuis, and Lindy Curtis, Danny and Tara Dalton, Justin and Heather Day, Josh, Sinda, and Sarah Lathrom; her 21 great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was loved and cherished by everyone who knew her.
Funeral services were held on Feb. 26. You may send condolences to the family at www.SpanishValleyMortuary.com
