Bunker, daughter of pioneer grocer, dies

Tuesday, May 18, 1999 | 3:33 a.m.

When Elayne Bunker wasn't doing volunteer counseling and teaching work for the Mormon Church, she often could be found making family craft treasures via the counted cross-stitch method of needlepoint.

"She made everything she did look antique," said Bunker's daughter, Trina Harris of Novato, Calif. "She would make scenes of small Victorian houses with colorful quilts hanging on clotheslines.

"And when we were growing up she made all of the girls' clothing. She was quite a seamstress."

Elayne Bunker, the daughter of one of Las Vegas' first grocers who brought his family here when the town was little more than several dusty square blocks, died Monday of cancer at her home. She was 79.

Viewing for the Las Vegas resident of 70 years will be 6-8 p.m. today at Bunker Brothers Mortuary. Services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 8th Street and Franklin Avenue.

Bunker was for 61 years the wife of Robert Ferris Bunker, who is the brother of Wayne Bunker, who served as Las Vegas City Councilman from 1984-89.

Elayne was noted locally for her work in the LDS church, especially as a temple worker since its dedication in 1989. She also served as a counselor and teacher in the women's service auxiliary called the Relief Society and in the same capacity for the church's Young Women's Organization.

Born Elayne Johnson on Oct. 15, 1919, in Delta, Utah, she was the oldest of three children of Blaine Johnson and the former Arvilla Lewis.

Blaine came to Las Vegas in 1927 and opened an open-air market at Garces Avenue and 5th Street which today is Las Vegas Boulevard. The town's population at the time was about 4,000.

In 1931, on the same site, he opened the Standard Market grocery store, which was the first of a string of small markets in which Elayne and other family members worked.

In 1936, at age 16, Elayne graduated from Las Vegas High School. Soon after, she met Robert, who was five years her senior. They married in November 1938 at the St. George Temple.

In addition to working in her father's stores, Elayne also worked for the Vegas Village market and in the gift shop at the Last Frontier on the Strip.

For 46 years, she and Robert lived in the same house in the 1900 block of Peyton Drive in the Huntridge area.

In 1986, Elayne attended her 50th anniversary reunion at Las Vegas High. She was escorted by her grandson, Bret Bananto, who also had graduated from the school.

In addition to her needlepoint, Elayne enjoyed shopping for antique furniture and hand-painted china.

In addition to her husband and daughter, Bunker is survived by a son, Robert Bunker of Tucson, Ariz.; another daughter, Tona Taylor of Las Vegas; a brother, Elwin Johnson of Las Vegas; a sister, Beverly Johnson of Las Vegas; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.