LaJuana Bastian will celebrate her 90th birthday with family and friends at an open house to be held Saturday, April 9, at 535 South Main Street in Monroe from 2 to 4 p.m.
She was born April 13, 1932, in Mount Pleasant in her Grandmother Hafen’s front room. She was the second of four daughters in the Clayton and Wilma Sorensen family, all sisters are living, Charleen Dalton, Circleville; Billie Lou Johnson, Aurora;and Geri Fairbanks, Sandy. LaJuana graduated from North Sevier High school in 1950 and went on to the University of Utah.
On Sept. 11, 1953, she married Arno Bastian in the Manti temple. They have four children, Dwight (Janice), West Jordan; Bruce (Joyleen), Idaho Falls, Idaho; Mark (Lynmarie), Severance, Colorado; and Bonnie (Shayne McKee), Roosevelt. They have 17 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.
Arno and LaJuana served in many different church callings including stake patriarch, stake president, primary president, Relief Society President, and a mission to the Philippines. She served as ward organist and ward and stake choir accompanists for many years. They served 18 years in the Manti temple including three years in the temple presidency. They always supported each other in what they were doing. She cared for Arno as he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and died in 2015.
LaJuana maintains a positive outlook as she deals with afflictions that make life difficult. She gives others encouragement along the way.
