Richard "Dick" Hartman

1945 - 2025

Richard "Dick" Hartman

May 23, 1945 - November 28, 2025

Taylorsville, UT - Richard Robert Hartman, known by "Dick" for much of his life, was born on May 23, 1945, to Robert and Nellie Hartman in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up in the Sugar House area and enjoyed a happy childhood, which included little league baseball and yearly family vacations to California. He attended Highland high school for six years during grades seven through twelve. He created and retained many lifelong & dear friends from his childhood neighborhood and schooling experiences.

In 1964, Dick was called as missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was set apart by Elder Gordon B. Hinckley (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the time) to serve in the Northern California Mission. His mission area covered parts of Southern Oregon all the way down to Oakland, California where he concluded his mission as an assistant to the mission president. While serving in the area of Chico, California, he was introduced to Annette Rollins during a church production. Impressions were made on both Dick and Annette and they would eventually reconnect a couple years later.

After returning from his mission, Dick took his eagerness for teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and started teaching early morning seminary at his high school alma mater, Highland high school. He referred to the 9th graders he taught that year as a "dream class". He went on to teach the next year at East high school for a brief time before he had to reluctantly leave his position to enter the workforce full time.

Understanding and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ became one of his great strengths and earnest pursuits in life. Over the years, his home became filled with hundreds of gospel study books as he poured himself into lifelong learning. He spent many years as a dedicated Sunday School, Gospel Doctrine, Young Men, and Elder's quorum teacher. Many were blessed by his unique, effective, and personable way of teaching the Gospel.

Also following his mission, the infamous Annette Rollins that he had met during his missionary service, ended up moving to Utah to attend Brigham Young University. While Dick was attending college in Salt Lake and Annette in Provo, the two wrote hundreds of letters and commuted back and forth for a 3 year long courtship.

On June 20, 1969, Dick and Annette were married and sealed for time and eternity in the Oakland, California temple.

The two of them built multiple homes together and started off their new family life in the East Sandy, Utah area. In 1978, they then purchased a home in Holladay, Utah where they would raise their three children and grow old together. This beloved neighborhood, the dear people, and the beautiful area became the center of their lives for over forty-five years.

Dick grew up in the Boy Scouts of America program and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Later on in life, the Boy Scout program would play another big role in his life as he would become a Scoutmaster for a large group of boys in his church organization. This calling and position that he served in was a place where he made a positive and lasting impact on many young boy's lives, including his own two sons. He was a very popular scoutmaster and his former scouts of decades ago still remembered him fondly, and continued their association with him.

This was a very memorable time for him, and despite all the pranks and shenanigans the boys put him and the other scout leaders through, he truly loved being a part of this program.

Dick was enlisted for six years in the Air Force National Guard. He did his basic training at the Lackland Airforce Base in Texas and after that, most of his service was spent at the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard base in Salt Lake City loading aircraft during the Vietnam war.

In 1970, Dick graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in business and immediately landed a job in sales with the Xerox company, who at the time had just launched their breakthrough copy and imaging technology. Dick would end up spending his entire professional career of nearly 40 years with Xerox as one of their lead salesmen. He truly was an exceptional salesman and received many awards and accolades in his tenure there.

He was so good at landing deals with large corporations in the state of Utah that he was affectionately referred to around the office as "The Mailman" because he always delivered the sale.

Dick developed many incredible lifelong friendships while working for Xerox. As he progressed in his career, he genuinely enjoyed and excelled at teaching the younger recruits and served as a guide and mentor to many. He excelled in his career primarily because of his love of people, strength in connecting with others, and his ability to develop strong interpersonal relationships.

Dick enjoyed many activities in his life. He loved the game of softball and played it for 20 years. In his younger ball playing years he played on various city rec teams. His older years of playing softball were primarily with the men in his church group. From this softball group, he earned the nickname of "Homerun Hartman". He couldn't run very fast, but it didn't matter, because he would often hit the ball all the way over the outfield fence. He very much enjoyed camping and being outdoors throughout his life and took his family on many campouts. Millcreek Canyon was a favorite spot of his to quickly drive up to with his dog or a good book and get away from the stresses of daily life for a bit. He also enjoyed biking and skiing and taught each of his children how to ski in the snowy mountains of Utah.

It must be mentioned of Dick that he was an avid University of Utah sports fan. For decades of his life he was a Crimson Club member and a season ticket holder who diligently attended all the college basketball and football games. His children have incredibly fond memories of attending many of these sporting events and bonding with their father in the University of Utah sports world setting. We lovingly joke that he was successful in raising two of his three children to also be die-hard Utah fans, with only his oldest eventually defecting to the "blue side".

Dick had the most tender heart. He was a gentle giant of a man. He loved deeply and had a tender conscience. He made others feel seen, heard, and cared for. As a result, he was a counselor and confidant to many who crossed paths with him in his life, always trying to offer the best advice he had. Dick's family learned what it meant to protect, care for, and serve others in need as he tirelessly took care of his aging mother for many years, all while he and Annette cared for his sister-in-law with early onset Alzheimer's.

For most of his life, Dick was challenged with anxiety and depression. These mental health struggles became a significant part of his life as both a burden and a teacher. He persevered through deep inner turmoil in his life and taught those around him a powerful lesson about endurance as well as talking openly about the mental health needs of himself and others.

He had an incredible sense of humor, a booming laugh, as well as a million dollar smile that was pure and genuine. Above all, he would want to be remembered as a man who loved his Savior, Jesus Christ, cherished his family and friends, and despite his imperfections, tried his best and never gave up. This was the man and father we knew and fiercely loved.

Richard is preceded in death by his mother and father, a step-father and only recently, his loving wife, Annette. He is survived by his three children Brad (Christine), Dan (Alison), and Julie (Jared) as well as his beloved sister, Judy Morley and his nine cherished grandchildren.

Viewing services will take place on Sunday December 7th from 6 until 8 p.m. at the church building located at 2625 E. Milo Way in Holladay, Utah.

A funeral service for Dick will take place on Monday December 8th at 12:00 p.m. in the same location. A viewing will begin one hour earlier at 11 AM.

The funeral service will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@HolladaythandthWards

The family would like to thank his hospice nurses Rachel, Jess, and Tiffany, as well as those at Meadow Peak who were truly invested in his care. A special thanks goes to Dick's personal caretakers, Ryan and Diana, who have served with so much love and care during both his and Annette's final days.