4/6/15 ~ 5/1/03
After a period of enervating health, Lynn A McKinlay passed away at his home on May 1, 2003.
He was born, the first of four sons, on April 6, 1915 to Arthur and Laura Owen McKinlay, in Teton City, Idaho. He spent his early years in the region near his birth and his high school years in Idaho Falls. In that city he met Asenath (Sann) Louise Passey, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder Melvin J. Ballard, on April 6, 1938.
Pursuing a passion for drama during the great depression years, he enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse of Theater Arts with the aspiration of becoming a stage actor. In 1939 his talent and training were such that he entered a "Gateway to Hollywood" competition and won second place. While poised for a promising career in stage and film acting, he abandoned that option in favor of a career in broadcasting. As the morning radio personality at KSL, where he was known as the "golden voice of the West", he moved on to become Production Manager. In 1955, he was invited to join the faculty at BYU in the department of film and dramatic arts. Later, he became an assistant professor of communications until his retirement in 1980. During the school year 1963-1964, he taught at the Church college of Hawaii.
Not only was he gifted in acting and dramatic readings, he had an extraordinary talent at public speaking. His service was in constant demand as a narrator and as a speaker on such BYU programs as Know Your Religion lecture series and Education Week, and he was a co-director of eight Church history tours. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as a Temple Sealer, a Bishop of the Provo Seventh Ward and as a member of the Deseret Sunday School General Board and of the Genealogical Society of the church. He was frequently called to be a gospel doctrine teacher in the wards where he lived. He is remembered for his many sacrament meeting and fireside talks, and his role in the live temple drama in the Salt Lake Temple, and his weekly speech on the temple to outgoing missionaries in the Salt Lake Missionary Home. He published three books: Life Eternal, The Spirit Giveth Life, and For Behold Ye Are Free. The first of those books remained in print for 30 years.
He leaves behind a grateful family, whose legacy they cherish. Survivors include his beloved wife, Sann, and children, David L (Lee Brown), Douglas R. (Betty Jo Vance), Heather A. (Al) Harrington, Iris L. (Michael) Sloan, Daniel B. (Melanie Carter), Arthur P. (Kathy Jo Hallstrom), and Rosemary (John) Aldrich and his brother, Blaine. 38 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren survive him. One grandchild and two great-grand-children preceded him in death.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, May 7, 2003, at 11:00 a.m., at the Edgewood Ward Chapel, 3500 N 180 E in Provo. Friends may call at the Berg Mortuary of Provo, 185 East Center Street, Tuesday evening, from 6-8 p.m., or Wednesday morning, at the Ward Chapel, one hour prior to services. Interment, East Lawn Memorial Hills.