Anita L. Waggoner of Boise Idaho, passed away on 1/6/2024 at the age of 71 due to an unexpected complication after her stem cell transplant for Multiple Myeloma. Her love, light and warm smile will be missed by so many friends, students, community members & especially her family. She leaves behind her husband, 4 children, 2 sons-in-law and 10 grandchildren to date.
Anita was born in Quito- Ecuador on Oct 4th, 1952, to her loving parents Galo Enrique Zurita Moya, & Elvira Grimaneza Veintimilla Larco. She was the eldest to her 5 younger siblings & grew up in a humble home. From a very young age she showed a lot of love and respect to her whole family. She was taught & raised by her parents in a home with humble values & strong principles.
Later in life Anita studied in Riobamba, Ecuador at the SAN VICENTE DE PAUL High School where she earned her diploma in early childhood education. Throughout her education she stood out as one of the best students and later graduated with honors as an elementary teacher. Then became an educator for early elementary school children. As a young adult she began her studies at the Central University of Ecuador while working as a children’s teacher which provided a great help in the monetary support to her whole family. Anita also competed in her young adult life for the title of queen & she went on to win the title & was crowned Queen of the National Union of Educators of Chimborazo.
In 1972 Anita’s father met the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and introduced them to his family as he was eager to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ & share with his family. Later after completing lessons, accepting the church into their lives Anita & her whole family were baptized in 1973 becoming one of the pioneering families of the church in Riobamba, Ecuador. Anita then began preparations to serve her own mission & later received her call to serve as a missionary in the Bogotá – Colombia mission in 1975. After the completion of her mission, she returned home with honor and prepared herself by setting a goal to visit and enter the SLC Temple. Later her dreams are fulfilled & she lived her life by one of her favorite quotes she often shared with others, “Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to pay the price to make them come true.”
Anita’s dream became a reality when she finally arrived in the United States of America on Aug 3rd, 1978, and later on Aug 5th of 1978 was able to attend the Provo temple for the 1st time. She then reunited with some missionary friends & began to court her soon to be husband, Edward E. Waggoner & then they were sealed for time & eternity together on Sep 15th, 1978, in SLC temple. A dream fulfilled & a future began as the welcomed four beautiful children into their lives, Celeste, Adrian, Dawn & Steven. Her children were her world, her passion & she enjoyed being a mother so much, it was her life. She taught them all about the world, her love for the gospel, her love of dancing, her love for learning/education, her love for animals & especially her love for cooking.
Throughout their marriage Anita & Eddie shared a love for the great outdoors, which they passed on to their children too. They enjoyed camping, visiting national parks & traveling all over to many of Idaho’s beautiful locations with their family. You could often find them going out for long rides on Eddie’s motorcycle through the mountains. This was an activity they truly loved doing together. Anita also supported & stood by her husband’s side for the 10 years as he honorably severed in the United States Air Force in the beginning part of their marriage. Their time in the military took them all over the United States as the enjoyed the births of their four children in different states.
In 1990 she settled in Boise Idaho with her family, a place she has called home ever since. While living here Anita has made a significant impact to all those she has met or befriended. This is where she laid down strong roots, a good foundation & life for herself & children. She was an active role in their lives & very supportive of their activities & adventures. Later as her children became older & more independent Anita began to reintroduce her passion for education back into her life. She was often found substituting in the treasure valley school districts & quickly became a fan favorite for students all over the schools for her “cute accent”, “funny Spanish jokes” & true love & compassion for each student individually. All her kid’s friends loved having Señora Waggoner as their sub teacher. After years of substituting & becoming an empty nester, she choose to apply to Boise State to get her 2nd bachelor’s degree in Spanish Education so she could obtain her own classroom and be a permanent teacher. After graduating from BSU she took a position at Boise State & Riverstone International school where she was the Spanish teacher from 2010-2021. She loved her job so much, was very involved in Riverstone’s school events & her students, students’ parents & staff adored her.
Anita was a very well know member of the Boise community. She taught private Spanish classes & cooking classes to so many who knew her. She spent countless hours serving, volunteering her time & talents for the good of others. She received local and national attention & awards for her role as the President of Partners of Americas. This position helped & enabled her to visit & organize events in Ecuador, her home country she loved so much. She was honored to share her joy, love and passion for her native land. Anita not only had a love for Ecuador her birth country, but also for the United States of America. She was very honored & proud the day she became an official citizen of the United States in 2005. It helped unite the love of two lands that played a big part of who she was & had become. She also had a talent to share her Christ like love to all around her through her church. She was a true example of Christ like service to her family & friends. Not only was her home a place anyone could stop by and get a warm meal, but she made & took meals to family, friends, teachers or neighbors in need during hard times. Her desire to serve others in any capacity even when it may have been hard for her was admirable. She spent countless hours of her life giving rides, making meals for those in need, teaching cooking classes to young children in the community, even with her grandchildren, sewing for others, lending an ear to someone in pain, organizing charity services, giving hundreds of hugs, counseling her kids, grandkids, siblings, nieces, nephews & friends. She was Christ like in her service to everyone around her, it was her very essence & how she chose to live her life like Christ. Anita loved her Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ more than anyone we have known. Loving them was an important part of her everyday life, it was the core of who she was & why she choose to share the gospel, her service, talents & love with all she met.
Aside from her deep love for Christ, Anita adored her kids, they were her world & she tried to be there for as many things as she could, when she able as they grew up. She later welcomed her in laws who she deeply loved as her own children. That didn’t stop there because she continued on to be an amazing grandmother to 10 grandchildren at the time of her passing. Once she earned the title Grandmalita, a name created by her 1st grandchild, a mixture of English and Spanish it stuck permanently & followed with all her grandchildren and to this day we all refer to her as “Grandmalita.” Each one of them knew of her deep love for them as she made it a point to take them on a special one on one birthday date: shopping trip to the mall, build a bear, a restaurant for dinner or lunch, sometimes both. They spent time laughing until their bellies hurt, having a sleep over, dancing to her Latina music, cooking something together, watching a movie and then a trip to dollar tree for crafts the next day. The grandchildren’s favorite thing to do with Grandmalita was cooking! She never cared about the messes they left behind because the time with them was more important & eating what they made after was their favorite part! They knew the love of a grandma, a Grandmalita that is.
Not only did her energy & light bring family, her grandchildren & the people around her close to her, but animals loved her, even wild animals. She was like a live Disney princess, like a Snow White or Cinderella! Any of the families’ animals gravitated to her, snuggled with her, begged for her attention and just wanted to be right with her! Anita especially loved birds! She has so many bird houses at her home & bags of food to keep them fed all year. She even loved the squirrels that tried to steal the bird’s food & became close friends, even naming two of them that eventually learned to come in & eat from her hands. The grandchildren enjoyed going & helping coax the squirrels in to watch them play & eat. She was just a true gem of a woman. A strong unstoppable woman. A woman who’d fight for you & beside you to the end. The world lost a light who has become an angel, but we know her light will live on in all of us as we keep her memories alive daily! Keep dancing our Latin Grandmalita, we love you!
Anita was preceded in death by both her parents, Galo and Grimaneza, an infant brother Adrian & infant sister Monica. She is survived by her loving husband of 45 years, Eddie Waggoner; her children Celeste Waggoner-Smith (Scott), Adrian Waggoner, Dawn Waggoner-Jenks (Daniel) & Steven Waggoner. As well as her younger siblings; Santiago, Catalina, Sonia, Adrian & Monica. She was also the proud grandmother to ten amazing grandchildren: Caden Smith, Sarah Smith, Hannah Smith, Sophie Smith, Scarlett Waggoner, Jenna Jenks, Leigha Jenks, Ethan Jenks, Kallie Jenks and Austin Jenks.
A funeral service will be held, 11:00 am, Monday, January 22, 2024 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3200 W. Cassia St., Boise, Idaho, with a public visitation beginning at 10:00 am. A private family burial will be held at Morris Hill Cemetery, Boise, Idaho.