Dad's Funeral

My Dad passed away in the early morning of July 25, 2025.  I got a call from Mom, Lance, and Terryl, who were there in Idaho for his passing.  He had been suffering from dementia for some time, and that compounded with complications in recovering from a fall lead to his rapid decline in the week leading up to his death.  I got on a plane the next day for Salt Lake City, Terryl picked me up, and we headed up to Ammon together.  Valeen was already there when we arrived and with Lance and Mom spent the following week planning for and carrying out Dad's funeral services.

While we were all very saddened about Dad's passing, we knew he had been suffering, and all felt some relief from his being able to be released from his mortal challenges.  In planning the program for the funeral and other related arrangements, the four of us kids spent time together in a way that we hadn't for a very long time.  Terryl and I were tasked with sharing memories of Dad at his funeral, and the process of going through pictures and collecting stories and memories from others in the family about Dad's life was a very special part of the week.

On Wednesday Valeen, Lance, Terryl, and I decided to spend the day together, just us, by going to Yellowstone.  It was special to me because I cannot remember the last time we did something fun like that just the 4 of us without parents, spouses, or kids.  It was just about spending time together, but a fun aspect of the day was finding Devil's Kitchen, a hole in the ground opening to a cave that has a long time been closed and is not marked on maps.  Looking up some old information online helped us find out what area to explore in the Mammoth Springs area, and then eagle eyes helped us spot the fencing around the hole up on a ridge.  This was a place Dad had taken us to about 12 years ago when we celebrated Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary there, and so it was very satisfying to find it again.  And what made it especially cool were the bats we found flying inside and perched up near the top.

The viewing and funeral service was special, in that we saw lot's of family and met others in Dad's life that were connected to him.  We got to see Joyce's kids, Marcie, Melissa, Kenny, and Karl.  Kirk Banister came out from Boise.  Nathan Davis came up from Utah; it was moving to me to see how important it was to him to honor Dad.  Eve set up a zoom for Cameron to be able to view the funeral from his mission in Brazil.  Two of Johnny's kids, Karl and Kim, attended, as well.

I am very grateful for the knowledge of eternal families and how the gospel of Christ that Mom and Dad have taught us kids all of our lives makes a big difference in how we view death and handle it effects in our lives.