Valorie Fay Jones entered into this life on 2 January 1944 in Burlingame, San Mateo County, California, the last daughter of Edward Calderwood Murchie Jones and Myrtle Leola Fisher. Her two other sisters in her family being Barbara Ann Jones and Mary Frances Jones. While Valorie was very young their family moved to San Carlos, only a few miles away, where she lived until she graduated from Carlmont High school. During her early developing years, she became a tom boy and did those things the boys would often do. She had a tree house in her back yard which she loved, and a dirt field nearby where she caught snakes and played with the boys. Valorie was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when she was 8 years old and has been a stalwart member all of her life. While in high school she met and dated her future husband, David Osborn Sheppard, and married him several years later while both were students attending BYU.

Upon David’s graduation, they moved to Richland, Washington where David worked on the Hanford project. In 1970 she was blessed to become a mother to her first son, Todd James Sheppard.  When that marriage ended in 1971, she met her new future husband, David Wayne Templeton, who had recently been divorced from his wife. He became the love of her life. They met on a blind date at a baseball game at the old Howard Amon baseball field by the river. Over a year later, their friendship blossomed, culminating in marriage on 9 December 1972. Later they were sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple for all eternity on 31 August 1976.

She was overjoyed, as were her parents, when he was also baptized a member of her church in 1973. Valorie, not having completed college, started attending CBC Nursing School, graduating and receiving her RN degree in August 1974. Just 2 months later she gave birth to a new son Benjamin Michael. He was followed by the birth of a daughter Nicole Leann in 1976, a son Jeremy Edward in 1979, another son Jared Wayne in 1980, her last daughter Kathryn Marie in 1983, and finally her last son Joshua David in 1984. These 7 children and their resulting 28 grandchildren have been the love of her life. She was also able to meet her only great grandson for the first time a week before her passing. She enjoyed participating in her church activities. It is here in Richland that her service in her Church started.

Valorie showed her dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by working with the young women in various capacities, teaching in the Primary organization for many years, and serving the women as a Relief Society President for four years. She was eager to help wherever she was asked to serve

As we look back on her life of 80 years, what do we see?  We see her as a loving wife, a mother building her family, and then as a grandmother, enjoying her posterity. We see her constantly supporting her children in all of their activities. She bounced between birthing and nurturing babies to being a soccer, baseball, or basketball mom, all at the same time. Her life was filled with sporting events nearly constantly.   We also see her developing a love of the beach at Pacific City on the Oregon Coast, enjoying her friends who were most often there. At other times her sisters and their families were there with her. We see her preparing for the future by canning and drying all the fruit found so abundantly here locally. For many years she enjoyed quilting baby blankets for the kids and then blankets for the grandchildren.  She enjoyed giving out her cherry cream pies whenever she could find an occasion to do that. She was privileged to be able to go to Mexico in 1986, Rome Italy in 2000, and then later to Europe in 2018. As the years passed by, she became more of a reader and enjoyed listening to music.

With children coming regularly, she had to delay her nursing aspirations until 1994 when she volunteered in Jason Lee Elementary school to help in the health room. She then became the health room nurse in Sacajawea Elementary school and served from 1995 to 2009 when she retired. The school children provided her with children to love after hers had grown sufficiently. After retiring from Sacajawea Dave and Valorie went on a Church History tour to the New England and eastern states. In 2012 they were called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Iowa Des Moines Mission. There they served in the Mt. Vernon Branch, living in Anamosa, Iowa until they were released in 2014. The friendships there have lasted the rest of her life.

The Columbia River Washington Temple was dedicated in 2001 and serving in the temple became very important to her. This started a wonderful chapter of her life attending the temple regularly. Even when working at Sacajawea, she attended the Temple nearly daily. She was then blessed to be called to be a temple ordinance worker in 2004 and served since that time until her health required her to be released in 2024. She was heartbroken.

After several months of heart related illnesses, she passed from this life peacefully on 8 August 2024 at her home, surrounded by her husband and loving children, and several of her close friends.

She was proceeded in death by her parents and her sister Barbara Ann Sanches. She leaves behind her husband, David, their 7 children: Todd and his wife Vicki, Benjamin and his wife Megan, Nicole and her husband Mark Daugherty, Jeremy and his wife Jill, Jared and his wife Angie, Katie and her husband Ken Whittenberg, and Joshua and his wife Jessica.  She also leaves behind 28 grandchildren, one great grandson, her sister Mary Frances Utchig, and five nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to a charity of your choosing.

The church will be providing a livestream of the funeral service.  Please copy and paste this link into your URL browser: https://zoom.us/j/96037515916?pwd=VDNlK09LWEZhZjFaS0lNWVhSRUQ3QT09