SALT LAKE CITY — Colleagues and ward members of Bishop Clay Sannar, the ecclesiastical leader of the Visalia, Calif., LDS ward who was shot to death Sunday afternoon, say he was a good father, good husband and a hard-working, honest man.

Jerry Rivers, an independent consultant for Soil Basics — the Sannar's family-owned fertilizer business — said he has known 40-year-old Sannar for 12 years and found him to be a good manager and excellent family man.

"He always had his boys with him," Rivers said. "The whole thing is a senseless tragedy."

Rivers hopes the focus of news stories veers away from the fact that Sannar was a Mormon bishop. Rivers doesn't believe the crime had anything to do with Mormonism or Sannar personally.

Rivers said there are three churches in the same area and he believes the shooter simply walked into the first one he came to.

"We need to not leave the impression that it was that way (targeted at the LDS Church)," Rivers said. "And he wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was in the right place for him, doing what he needed to be doing."

Rivers said the world is poorer for the loss.

"(Sanner) was a tribute to the Mormon Church," he said.

Sannar and his wife had six sons, the youngest blessed in front of the congregation just a short time ago.

He led a Christ-centered life, according to friends who commented on Facebook and Deseret News websites, had a good singing voice and was well liked by ward members, business colleagues and friends. He'd been the bishop of the Visalia ward for just a few months.

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Scott Henriksen, 47, a friend of 18 years and church member, said those who know the family and Sannar are devastated.

"There's only one word: shocked. This is something that should not happen," he said.

Henriksen described Sannar as "very good, hard-working. A great family man."

e-mail: haddoc@desnews.com

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