Early Wednesday morning, Aug. 11, our dear mother, grandmother, aunt, sister and friend joined in on a long-anticipated reunion with family and friends. Surely there was laughter and good, old-fashioned dancing at this grand reunion. Mary Josephine Condos Aimone was 92 years young, born Dec. 20, 1928, to Chris and Lavinia Erickson Condos in Carter, Wyoming. She had seven brothers: Allen, Ray, James, George, Cecil, Stan, and Rex; and two sisters: Margaret (who passed away at birth) a snd Elaine.
Mary and Elaine, who were the best of friends throughout their lives, took over the “mom” duties for their mother when, due to health issues, she was confined to bed. They cared for the boys and cooked and cleaned under Lavinia’s supervision. She attended school in Lyman, and has always been active and involved in the pioneer reunions held each year.
Mary married Felix Aimone on Feb. 25, 1947, and moved up on the ranch in Fort Bridger, where she once again cared for and cooked and cleaned, as their four boys — Kenny, Larry, Rudy and Pete — came along.
Mary loved people and was always making new friends, never meeting anyone she didn’t like. Mary and Felix loved to socialize, and they loved to dance and were good at it. Mary was a beautiful woman with her bright red hair and her choice of clothes and how she wore them, often with a hat. She was a trendsetter. Some of her grandchildren have inherited that trait.
She was an exceptional cook and loved to have people come over because she loved to be a hostess and she was good at that also. Family gatherings were very important to her, especially when they got together for “Banja Cauldas.” She loved gardening and would always buy way too many plants, but she was very talented and creative and would put Felix to work making her ideas of where and how to put them come to fruition. They were always lovely. Hunting with the family was part of her enjoyment.
Felix and Mary did a lot of traveling. When she discovered that she had a sister in Greece, she and some of her family members went to Greece to meet her family. Her father, Chris, came to the United States from Greece and settled in the Bridger Valley on a small ranch, making her and her siblings second generation Americans.
She was very involved in community affairs. She joined a horse-riding club with her palomino horse, Hi Ho. They rode in many events, especially the hometown rodeos in Fort Bridger, Lyman and Evanston. The American Legion Auxiliary was one of her passions and one of her favorite places in the community to serve. She helped out with the Mountain Man Rendezvous held on Labor Day in Fort Bridger.
Volunteering was something she loved to do, volunteering for anything she deemed as a good cause. She was a member of the Historical Society, Indian Paintbrush Club, Bridger Valley Chamber of Commerce, to name a few. Everything she was a member of, she was an active member.
Mary took up painting at age 50 and became very proficient at it. You can find her paintings in many places throughout the Valley and Evanston. She loved to share her talents.
She loved holidays. In the 4th of July parade, she would always have an entry. Felix and the boys, as well as friends, were subject to anything that Mary might dream up, from Felix being a baby with a diaper and a bottle or a polygamist with some of the homeliest wives ever. Halloween was the same. Felix was such a good sport. Down deep I’m sure he loved it as much as she did.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Felix; her brothers, Allen, Ray, James, George, Cecil and Stan; her sisters, Elaine and Margaret; and her son, Kenneth.
Survivors include her sons, Larry, Rudy (Jennifer) and Pete (Wendy); daughter-in-law, Esther; all of Fort Bridger; 15 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; stepdaughter, MaeVonne Adams of Wellington, Utah; and brother, Rex Condos of Lyman.
Viewings will be Sunday, Aug. 15, from 6-8 p.m., and Monday morning from 10-11, with the funeral at 11 a.m., at the Mountain View LDS chapel. Burial is in the Fort Bridger cemetery, with a luncheon at the church afterward.
