2014-01 Fred Heath and Jackson

My younger brother Fred moved with his partner to North Carolina a couple of years ago. Laurel does a good job of keeping in contact. At a Heath sibling dinner at our home on January 11, 2014 we tried to call him to say hello, but his home phone is not in service and he didn't answer his cell phone. Fred suffers from emphysema resulting from years of smoking. He really enjoys Jackson, his son with Andrean, and only child.

Fred is sitting on my father's lap in this 1957 photo of our family.

2014-01 Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

I listened to the book on CD while driving in my truck. I was thoroughly disgusted with the evil that one bad man can perpetrate on the human race. His sins were scarlet, but perhaps too scarlet for forgiveness. My friend Peter's family left Germany in the post war nightmare. They were fortunate to be able to relocate to the US. When I was in junior and senior high school Peter's grandmother would speak to him in German and Peter would answer in English.

2013-12-16 Peter Schulz obituary

Peter was a high school and college friend that I never reconnected with after we moved back to SLC. We worked together at a window company where he still worked when he died.

 1948 ~ 2013
Our beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, Peter Schulz, was called home to our Heavenly Father in the early hours of December 16th, 2013. He was surrounded by those he loved most. 
Peter was born in post war Hannover, Germany in 1948 and found his home in the Salt Lake Valley in 1954. Even as a young child the gifts of his spirit benefited all who knew him. He grew up on the same street as his lifelong sweetheart, Amy, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1976.
Peter's legacy on this earth is his unyielding loyalty to accept and help all those who he met. The circle of people that call Peter friend and brother are without number. His life was dedicated to serving God and his fellow men. He was generous to a fault and would freely give all that he had to help those who had a greater need. He loved children and they loved him. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. He was awesome. GO UTES!
He is survived by his wife, Amy; his four children, Anja (Mark), Andy, Arianne, and Abby (Jeff); and his eight grandchildren, Liam, Rosie, Gareth, Charlotte, Owen, Hazel, Tristan and Logan. 
There will be a celebration of his life on Friday, December 20, from 7-9pm, University of Utah attire encouraged, laughter required. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 21, at 11am. Friends may visit with the family starting at 9:30am. Both services will be held at the Valley View Stake Center; 2245 E. 3900 S. in Salt Lake City. 

2013-12-06 Nathan Jeffery Conley is born

 At 4:34 pm in Lone Peak hospital Melanie delivered her 5th child, yet to be named. He seems perfect in every way weighing 7 lbs and 20 1/4 inches tall. Andrew and Elizabeth and Grandpa were 20 minutes late for the delivery, but Anna, Eden and Grandma were on time, but had to sit in the waiting room anyway.
He looks like a Conley child, and he has a dimple in his right cheek, not shown in these two photos. After a few minutes holding the newborn we took Andrew, Elizabeth, Anna and Eden to Costco for hot dogs and pizza. We brought pizza back to Jeff at the hospital where he stayed the night with Melanie.

Our joy in the newborn Conley was tempered by the miscarriage Natalie had on the same day. This loss is probably more difficult since they heard the heartbeat earlier and then no heartbeat at the last doctor visit.

2013-12-01 Brian is ordained a High Priest

It was my privilege and honor to ordain Brian a High Priest before he was set apart as the 2nd counselor in his ward bishopric. He begins his service today in the Conejo Ward of the Newbury Park Stake.

2013-11-12 Lou Harris's obituary

  

January 4, 1932 ~ November 12, 2013
He was, to steal a favorite phrase of Lou's, a "real piece of work." 
Born in El Paso, Texas to Lincoln T. Harris and Zereta Pierce Harris. Lou was born into the troubled times of the Depression, to a family that struggled in those troubled times. Somehow, he just popped out of the womb with a sunny disposition and from the git-go he possessed an irrepressible (and highly contagious) optimism. 
He would need his sunny disposition and optimism to make it out of his chaotic childhood, bouncing from relative to relative throughout the Southwest and Utah. Largely unsupervised as a kid, this happy-go-lucky and mischievous kid was, let's be frank, a juvie. He claims he was just "energetic" and "misunderstood." He would have been a happy handful. Smoked his first cigarette at the tender age of 5, kicked the habit when he was 7. Tossed out of junior high for starting a food fight in the cafeteria. Broke his nose 11 times as a kid. He learned some excellent brawling skills from some of these broken noses that were showcased, occasionally, in church basketball games. 
Without a doubt the best thing that ever happened to Lou was meeting and marrying the beautiful, razor sharp and witty June Karoline Samuelsen. They were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on May 15, 1953. Perfectly matched, they enjoyed 60 years of genuine marital bliss. They held hands every day up until the day she died. He loved listening to her play the piano. Kudos to mom for recognizing Lou as the true diamond in the rough he was and then patiently polishing the daylights out of him.
Lou was the first college graduate in his family. He enjoyed a long and very successful career in banking. He was the Chief Credit Officer for First Security Bank and retired as the President of First Security Leasing Company. Lou served as President of the Utah Banker's Association in 1987. He possessed a formidable intellect and excellent analytical skills. Very few things slipped past him. People loved working with and for Lou. He was fair and fun to work with. 
However, his professional success was dwarfed by his "success" as a husband and as a father. He flat out loved our mother. He flat out loved his children and grandchildren. His world revolved around his family. We basked in his love. To Lou, life was all about relationships. He was a world-class nurturer of relationships.
Lou was a devout and steady member of the LDS Church who served faithfully in many capacities. He was a truly stellar home teacher. He had a simple but rock solid faith in God and the Savior. He showed his love for God by serving and loving people.
Lou possessed a great sense of humor and loved to needle the people he loved. Fun loving and lighthearted. Warm and witty. Lou had presence and he could really work a room. Look up "classy" in the dictionary and you'll see his picture. He was larger than life. He was an inveterate "people builder." Mentor for hundreds of young men he coached in little league baseball and ward basketball teams over the years. He was a very good athlete and competitive by nature. Loved to golf. Lou was a true "Utah Man." There were few things in life he enjoyed more than watching the gridiron Utes and Runnin' Utes with a Diet Coke in one hand, a hot dog with mustard and onions in the other and his family surrounding him. He had a huge heart and was generous to a fault. Lou never forgot where he came from and had a huge soft spot for the underdog and the downtrodden. 
Parkinson's and a few other ailments dogged Lou over the last few years. He met them head on. He fought the good fight! We look forward to our eventual reunion with you and mom!
He is survived by his five grateful children: Steve (Jean) Harris, Laurie (Bruce) Knaphus, Stacey (Scott) Becker, Mia (Kent) Hyde, and John (Diane) Harris and by 17 adoring and adorable grandchildren and three great grandchildren. His two sisters, Barbara H. Newey and Daryl H. Young also survive him. His eternal sweetheart, June, preceded Lou in death just a little over two months ago.
Special thanks to Lou's grandson, Kanon Knaphus; who was an incredible and tender primary care giver to his beloved "Ice Pick Louie" over the last few years.
The funeral will be held on Tuesday November 19th at noon at the Willow Creek Stake Center located at 2350 East Creek Road (8200 South) in Sandy, Utah. A viewing at the Stake Center before the funeral services will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. A viewing will also be held Monday November 18th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Stake Center. 

2013-10-7 to 2013-11-03 Nepal

I had the good fortune to travel to Nepal and trek to Everest base camp with Paul and Barry Stratton. I left SLC on October 7 and arrived in Kathmandu on October 9. On October 12 we left Kathmandu for Lukla to start our trek reaching the base camp on October 20. 

 Barry is standing next to me. Lokendra Rai was our wonderful guide.

 At base camp there is this pile of 'mani' stones, each engraved with a prayer.

 We hiked in snow for a number of days due to a rare early season storm. Sunburn was a bigger problem.

We hike from village to village from Lukla to Gorak Shep. The most difficult part of the trek was trying to sleep at Lobuche and Gorak Shep which are both above 16,000 feet. . The best part were the wonderful views of the Himalayas and the many people we met trekking.