George Robert Quist

1920 ~ 2012
George Robert Quist died of causes incident to old age Thursday, September 6, 2012. He was 91 years old (in his 92nd year as he was fond of noting). George was born on December 21, 1920 in Holladay Utah to Oscar Quist and Phyllis Coleman Quist. He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years Shirley Rae Cutler Quist, brothers Dave, Jack, and Billy, and his sisters Maxine (Davis) and Francis (Higgins).
George grew up in Holladay and attended Granite High School where he played football and participated in school plays. During his junior year of high school he contracted osteomylitis, which prevented him from serving in the military and was a condition that he dealt with the remainder of his life.
George served an LDS church mission to the Southern States. Missionaries had many duties back then and George built a chapel in Altawood Tennessee which still stands. He was proud to recount that he, like the early missionaries, served without "purse or script" during parts of his mission.
George moved to Lincoln Nebraska to start an insurance agency in 1945. While in Lincoln he married his Holladay Utah sweetheart, Shirley Rae Cutler. Their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple in 1946. George was an active member of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers helping fund the Mormon Battalion Monument in San Diego and the Hole in the Rock Monument in Southern Utah.
George was active in business being a founder and promoter of the Husky Oil Refineries in the West. At the same time he founded an early credit card company. Later his focus shifted back to life insurance where he was instrumental in starting Commercial Underwriters, which raised capital for new life insurance companies.
While Hawaii was still a territory, George went there to found its first domestic life insurance company, Pacific Guardian Life. Under George's leadership Pacific Guardian set a world record in first year sales of life insurance. While there he also founded the Pacific Rim Insurance Conference, an international trade association. George moved his family back to Salt Lake in 1965 where he founded Security National Life. Over the years Security National has grown to include cemeteries and mortuaries, life insurance companies, and mortgage banks. George continued his activity in industry associations being a founding member of the National Alliance of Life Companies and serving on the Board of Directors and as President of the National Association of Life Companies being at that time the second largest trade association of its kind.
George was active in the LDS church serving as Bishop of the Holladay 10th ward and was on the High Council for a number of years as well as serving in numerous other positions. George was an active tennis player in his youth and recollected shoveling snow from tennis courts so that he could play in the winter. He took up skiing in his late 50's to keep up with his wife. He also enjoyed hunting, collecting Indian rugs, fishing, gardening in his later years, and raising and training dogs. He was an avid reader of history. Though plagued by seasickness he took up boating as a family activity.
In his later years he would end many of his addresses with the line from his favorite poem "Friends", "Make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold."
He is survived by Christie Overbaugh, Robert Quist (Tracy), Scott Quist (Lisa) and Rodger Quist. George had 11 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, September 11, 11:00 am at the Holladay 10th Ward, 4601 South Chapel Street (2565 East). Friends and family may call Monday evening at the Holladay-Cottonwood Memorial Mortuary, 4670 S Highland Drive from 6:00-8:00 pm and on Tuesday one hour prior to the service at the church. On-line condolences may be submitted to www.memorialutah.com