Obituary for Thomas Harry Terry Sr.
Harry Terry, age 92, passed away peacefully at home on July 17, 2019. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 12, 1927, he is the son of Marion Stout Terry, and Ebba Dorothy Gardelius Terry. This picture was taken after his 90th birthday.
Harry grew up mostly in Salt Lake City. When he was 15 he moved with his parents, to northern California where he dropped out of high school, at age 17, to join the navy during WWII. However, buses stopped running the day he was to go and be sworn in, so he decided to wait and be drafted when he turned 18. He received his basic training at Camp Beale, California, and on completion was sent to Shemya, a 2 3/4 x 4 1/3 mile island air base at the end of the Aleutian chain. After an honorable discharge from the army he moved to Delta, Utah, where he worked for the highway department until returning to finish high school at Delta High School in 1947. He met Kathleen Ekstrom there, and after graduation in 1948, they fell in love and were married in the Manti, Utah Temple on January 5, 1949, celebrating their 70th anniversary this past January. They lived in Salt Lake City until spring, moved back to Delta, then moved to Laguna Beach, California, the following year, where they lived until Harry entered college in Cedar City, Utah.
Harry was a very active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in a variety of callings from Primary teacher, through scout master, Sunday school teacher, High Priest group leader, Branch presidencies, several stake missions, including the first stake mission president of American Samoa, etc. He and Kathleen served together as home teachers in many places. He was also a lead security officer working nights, for a year, at the St. George Temple. He loved attending the temple.
Harry taught elementary school on the Navajo reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, just out of college, then in Blanding, Utah, where he also served on the auxiliary police force and Justice of the Peace. He then taught at Mapusaga High School, for the church, on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa, then back to teaching in Blanding where he also served as a county judge and Justice of the Peace. He later taught elementary school in Fullerton, California, then Vernal, Utah, ending the last 19 years of his teaching career in Cedar City, Utah, teaching at North Elementary, then the Cedar Middle School where he finished with teaching 8th grade biological and physical sciences. He loved the students and loved teaching them.
Harry enjoyed running, hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, rock-hounding, river running, reading, sketching, photography, singing, and learning new things. He also loved potatoes, fried chicken, hamburgers, and ice cream.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Joy Terry Barben, his brother, Duane M. Terry, and 2 great-granddaughters. Harry is survived by his wife, Kathleen of Enoch, 4 daughters, Diana Grandy of Kearns, Utah, Melody Brim of Las Vegas and Enoch, Robin Olson of Enoch, Celeste Merkley of Caldwell, Idaho, and 2 sons, Thomas Terry of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Michael Terry of Spokane, Washington, 45 grandchildren, 73 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
A celebration of his graduation from this life will be held in the recreation hall of the Enoch West Stake Center on the corner of Minersville Highway and 3600 North, at 10 A.M. on Saturday, July 27. It will be preceded by a family prayer at 9:45. Interment will be at the Enoch City Cemetery. Your family loves you and misses you, Harry.
Harry grew up mostly in Salt Lake City. When he was 15 he moved with his parents, to northern California where he dropped out of high school, at age 17, to join the navy during WWII. However, buses stopped running the day he was to go and be sworn in, so he decided to wait and be drafted when he turned 18. He received his basic training at Camp Beale, California, and on completion was sent to Shemya, a 2 3/4 x 4 1/3 mile island air base at the end of the Aleutian chain. After an honorable discharge from the army he moved to Delta, Utah, where he worked for the highway department until returning to finish high school at Delta High School in 1947. He met Kathleen Ekstrom there, and after graduation in 1948, they fell in love and were married in the Manti, Utah Temple on January 5, 1949, celebrating their 70th anniversary this past January. They lived in Salt Lake City until spring, moved back to Delta, then moved to Laguna Beach, California, the following year, where they lived until Harry entered college in Cedar City, Utah.
Harry was a very active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in a variety of callings from Primary teacher, through scout master, Sunday school teacher, High Priest group leader, Branch presidencies, several stake missions, including the first stake mission president of American Samoa, etc. He and Kathleen served together as home teachers in many places. He was also a lead security officer working nights, for a year, at the St. George Temple. He loved attending the temple.
Harry taught elementary school on the Navajo reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, just out of college, then in Blanding, Utah, where he also served on the auxiliary police force and Justice of the Peace. He then taught at Mapusaga High School, for the church, on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa, then back to teaching in Blanding where he also served as a county judge and Justice of the Peace. He later taught elementary school in Fullerton, California, then Vernal, Utah, ending the last 19 years of his teaching career in Cedar City, Utah, teaching at North Elementary, then the Cedar Middle School where he finished with teaching 8th grade biological and physical sciences. He loved the students and loved teaching them.
Harry enjoyed running, hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, rock-hounding, river running, reading, sketching, photography, singing, and learning new things. He also loved potatoes, fried chicken, hamburgers, and ice cream.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Joy Terry Barben, his brother, Duane M. Terry, and 2 great-granddaughters. Harry is survived by his wife, Kathleen of Enoch, 4 daughters, Diana Grandy of Kearns, Utah, Melody Brim of Las Vegas and Enoch, Robin Olson of Enoch, Celeste Merkley of Caldwell, Idaho, and 2 sons, Thomas Terry of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Michael Terry of Spokane, Washington, 45 grandchildren, 73 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
A celebration of his graduation from this life will be held in the recreation hall of the Enoch West Stake Center on the corner of Minersville Highway and 3600 North, at 10 A.M. on Saturday, July 27. It will be preceded by a family prayer at 9:45. Interment will be at the Enoch City Cemetery. Your family loves you and misses you, Harry.