Obituary: Ray W. Kartchner

Ray W. Kartchner 12/08/12 ~ 01/12/07 Ray William Kartchner, 94, came full circle when he passed away in Provo, Utah, January 12, 2007. Ray grew up in Provo with his widowed mother, Rose Heath Kartchner, and with his brothers and sisters, Alma, Ethel, Ruth, and Fred. His father, Asael Wain, had died when Ray was two. Growing up during hard economic times taught Ray to work hard, to be resourceful, to persevere, to seek education, and to be very frugal. In the Provo of the 1920's, he grew up skinny dipping with his pals in the Provo river, picking raspberries and peaches on his Uncle's farm on the Orem bench, working one odd job after another to earn a little extra cash, hiking Timp every summer and hopping freights to Wyoming and back. After graduating from Provo High he earned his teaching certificate from BYU and his Master's Degree from the University of Utah. At BYU he fell in love with his dance partner, Gertrude Skousen. They married August 18, 1939 in the Salt Lake Temple. Ray and Trudy began their family, moved to Bountiful, and started to build their home themselves, stud-by-stud and brick-by-brick. In that home, they raised their five daughters. Ray also "raised" generations of junior high students. At Garfield, Roosevelt Jr. High, and West High School, in addition to grammar, tumbling, and basketball, his students learned from him self-discipline, self-reliance, and high expectations. Ray was ward clerk to four ward bishoprics in the Bountiful 4th and 7th Wards. Later, he and Trudy often had the early-morning shift for more than a decade as they worked together at the Salt Lake temple. Ray found temple workers there "some of the best individuals I've ever known." The wonderful people at Jamestown Assisted Living in Provo will miss his infectious smile, thumb wrestling, polite English manners, debonair cane-propped posture, and his ready compliments. He will be especially missed by his five daughters and their husbands, Marie (Bruce Hafen) of Orem; Ann Kartchner-Hauley of Holladay, Utah; Janet (Randy Kirton) of Sandy, Utah; Susan (Dee Bradford) of Mapleton; and Lisa (Kelly McIlrath) of Coral Springs, Florida. His 31 grandchildren and 69 (and counting) great-grandchildren will miss his scruffy, tender hugs. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, January 17, 2007, 11 a.m. in the Orem Sharon 5th Ward Chapel, 545 South 800 East, Orem. Friends may call Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem, and Wednesday from 9:45-10:45 a.m. prior to the services at the church. Burial will be in the Bountiful City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at: www.walkerfamilymortuary.com