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Richard Vernon Obituary
Richard L. Vernon passed away Oct. 30, 2012 in his home at Moyle Park, Alpine, Utah.
He was born November 12, 1947 to Leo and Fern Vernon in Provo, UT. He married Helen Carey January 18, 1979 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Richard was a loving and faithful husband and father. He was a talented teacher and touched the life of many students at BYU. Richard was genuinely interested in other people and had a unique skill for making friends.
He is survived by his wife Helen; children: Amanda (David) Sakry, Brigham City; Sarah (Rod) Cramer, Moses Lake, WA; Rachel (Prenten) Frazier, Alpine; Carrie (Patrick) Webb; Hallie (Scott) Hillman, Highland; Elizabeth (Seth) Taylor, New Haven, CT; Parley (Mackenzie), Sandy; Julia (Jason) Garrard, Orem; William, BYU. Mother: Fern T. Vernon, Provo; Siblings: Elise (Leonard) Pearlstine, FL; Marty (Sally), Spanish Fork; Jill (Jim) Murphy, Orem; Eric (Angie), Highland; and 21 grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 2:00 p.m., in the Alpine North LDS Stake Center Chapel, 1125 East Alpine Boulevard, Alpine, Utah. Family and friends may call Friday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Alpine North Stake Center and also Saturday afternoon from 12:45-1:45 p.m. prior to services at the church. Interment will be in the Alpine City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.warenski.com
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Helen Vernon
November 26, 2012
Miss you Ricky!
Laura Clarito
November 4, 2012
Uncle Rick was always kind and thoughtful. I appreciate that he was always interested in me personally and asked me how I was doing and how my family was doing each time I saw him. He was a great example of one who did not follow what the world said, but who knew what God wanted and did it. I greatly admire and will greatly miss Uncle Rick.
Todd Jay Christensen
November 4, 2012
One of the many traits that stood out to me about Richard was his confidence. As someone who won a race at the age of 6 and for the next 50 years had his self-worth steeped in his physicality, i always admired how Richard carried himself. His testimony of the Gospel and his faith in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ were the factors that made him a quality human being and someone who seemed absolutely fearless in social situations. And all of this with a "thorn-in-the-flesh" that inhibited many of the activities he no doubt wished to pursue. He was reminiscent of the the words of the Saviour when he talked of Nathaniel stating , "Behold, a man in whom there is no guile."
At times the conversation with him on our outings might veer into the light-minded or less sober. He would make it a point to say "Hey now" and we would get back on point. It would seem that he lived the Gospel to the letter and was devoid of the foolish pride that seems to beset so many of us. As a teacher i always thought it interesting how he could engender such discussion easily and create the requisite spirit for the occasion. He was one of the few people that i have met in my life that could both, speak and listen adroitly.
I know that he enjoyed an obscure scripture that i would periodically use found in Jude 22. He certainly made a difference in the lives of many. It has been said, "Praise and imitate the man to whom while life is pleasing, death shall not be grievous." I believe Richard achieved that. Blessings upon your household and let the words of John 14:27 bring comfort. Love Todd Jay Christensen
LeeAnn Payne
November 3, 2012
I was so sad to hear of Richard's passing. I am so grateful to have known Richard through working in a Stake calling at the same time with him. He always greeted me with a warm smile and a kind word, always asking about my family and was truly interested in how we were doing. He visited my son Taylor in the hospital after a difficult back surgery and continued to voice concern for him years afterward. He also followed our son Kimball's basketball career at Lone Peak and Dixie College, always sharing his excitement in watching him play. BYU sports were often a part of our conversations as well!
Most recently we visited as he gave us a tour of Moyle Park while my grandchildren were in town during the summer. He loves his family and was proud of their many accomplishments.
I will forever think of Richard as a friend and a great inspiration. He truly was a disciple of Christ and served and loved others as Christ did.
He will be deeply missed.
Our prayers will be with your family.
LeeAnn Payne
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K'Lynn Wood
November 2, 2012
Richard is one of the most thoughtful, kind people I have ever met. It has been a privilege to be considered one of his friends. I am so sorry for your loss.
November 2, 2012
I was so sad when my brother Ken called me here in Puerto Rico to tell me that Rick had passed away. I've known him and loved him since our childhood. Out of all the Vernon family cousins my age he is the one I had most contact with. I always admired him for playing the piano so well with one hand after having lost use of the other one. He always had a big smile on his face too! We will miss seeing him at Vernon Family reunions too! Our thoughts and prayers will be with Helen and his children and with Fern (his mother) all of whom will miss him tremendously, I'm sure!
We will be home from our mission on Thanksgiving. It's sad to miss his funeral by only a few days!
With love, Barbara(his cousin)and my husband Doug
Brother Marty returns from mission
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
with walking stick in Moyle Park
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Playing piano with brother Eric
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Tilling the garden with one hand
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Rick & Ed Eudis
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Opening Parley's mission call to Russia
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
holding a daughter
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Daughters in Brighton Colorado
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Entire family in 1994
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Richard & sons Parley & William
Richard Vernon
November 2, 2012
Elizabeth Taylor
November 2, 2012
Ideas about Daddy
Dad's love for his family shows that he understood the law of sacrifice. He gave up many things he loved, for a wife and children he loved more.
Dad took care of things. In college I always knew that if I did laundry at home, all I needed to do was put it in the washer. Dad would take care of the rest, whether I wanted him to or not. He took good care of all of our cars, almost as if they were pets. If we drove home and he noticed we needed an oil change, he would just hop in our car and be back in half an hour. The guys at Jiffy Lube all knew his name. He got a little smile on his face when he could put gas in one of our cars, or fill up the car so Mom could drive to Burley to see her mother. I remember Dad dropping us off at high school in a rickety old car. I always thought Dad liked old cars. It wasn't until I was older that I realized he probably would have really loved having a nice car. But he loved having his children more.
Dad loves order. He likes things in the right places. He likes things to happen at the right times. Keeping order with 9 kids who don't always understand that, must have been a sacrifice. His Scotch tape would always wander off—especially at Christmas time, there were often clothes on the floor, and things were not always quiet right at 10:00 at night. But Dad loved us in spite of all of that. And through the years, the quietness returned (sometimes) to the home, but for the sacrifices he made, Dad has a living and loving posterity who perhaps learned a little bit of order and cleanliness from their Dad.
When we were little, it seemed we were always begging to swim in a pond, or wade in a river. That wasn't Dad's idea of fun. He would have much more enjoyed sitting in a Rockies game, or doing a puzzle at home. But none of us girls will ever forget the time he took us hiking in the Rocky Mountains. We came to a little stream and started to plead with Dad to let us go wading. Imagine our surprise when Dad took off his shoes and socks and waded with us. We all giggled at how white his feet were. I don't know that we had ever seen him without socks before. He was willing to have fun with us and none of us have forgotten it.
I didn't always understand the financial burden that Dad bore for our family. There were a lot of kids, and not always a steady income. But Dad always made things work out, to the point that we were never worried. We grew up knowing we were poor, but never worried about it at all. It wasn't until one day, after Mom and Dad moved into Moyle Park, and Dad with a look of sheer pleasure put the mortgage payment for our old house through a paper shredder, that I realized the financial burden he had born all those years. But even though it may have been a burden, he never lost perspective. He knew that with faith and paying tithing things would always work out and they did. Dad invested in the most important things he could, his family and the Lord. And he always received pay back.
Dad had unwavering faith and an incredible gift for knowing right and wrong. We learned to trust Dad's judgment. For him, if the Lord said it, if a prophet said it, or if the Holy Ghost spoke, there was never a question of what to do. Sometimes the rest of us questioned. What was so wrong with downloading songs from Napster? But Dad was unbending. He had “set his face like flint” (2nd Nephi 7:7 ). He had chosen the Lord's path and nothing was going to keep him from it. He had reached the point where obedience was a joy more than a burden.
When things went wrong, we knew we could always ask Dad for a blessing and we always did. I remember once, reminding Dad of a blessing he had given me a few years earlier. He had said words that I had kept with me all through my college years. I asked him if he remembered that blessing. His comment was “The blessings I give aren't for me. They are for the recipient.” He was simply a mouthpiece for the Lord. We all knew there was power in father's blessings and through the years they became much more frequent than just at the beginning of a school year. Track injuries, boyfriends, school struggles, were all times when we could hear Heavenly Father talking to us through our father. He was a clean and pure vessel of the Lord and we all felt his priesthood power. When I was little and would wake up scared in the middle of the night, I always reminded myself: Dad is here. Dad has the priesthood. Everything will be alright.
Sometimes the Lord asks us to make a sacrifice, and sometimes trials come without our permission. Perhaps that was how Dad's accident was. When he was 15 he fell from a cliff and suffered from major brain injury. While his cognitive abilities were miraculously preserved, his physical abilities weren't. For the rest of his life, he walked with a slight limp and didn't have the use of his right hand. But Dad never complained. It wasn't until I went to Kindergarten that it dawned on me that most dads have two hands. He did what needed to be done, and was even willing to sacrifice his physical abilities and comfort, if that was what the Lord asked of Him. That was Dad. I can see now the strength his sacrifice required. He played hymns on the piano with only one hand. He gave us blessings with one strong hand, one useless. He could beat (at least for a while) any one of us at racquetball. He wrote out his tithing checks with his left hand. He used what the Lord had given him for good.
Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. Richard Leo Vernon understood that. I believe that he not only loved the prophet Joseph Smith, but he understood him, in a way that not all of us do. Dad understood that to gain the blessings of exaltation, sacrifice is required. He understood in a deeper way, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It heals and it strengthens. Richard lived his life in a way that showed his faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Richard & Helen Vernon in Moyle Park
Helen Vernon
November 2, 2012
Richard had a vast knowledge of gospel principles and truths and many prophets and apostles considered him a personal friend. He was a veritable encyclopedia of gospel knowledge. He was a wonderful husband and father and grandfather, blessing the lives of those around him by his quick insights. He showed compassion toward others, always trying to understand their troubles and concerns. He was faithful in his callings and was a great gospel teacher and leader. His gospel knowledge was both sound and profound. His counsel always hit the mark and he was ever-ready to help lift someone else's burdens. Helen
Roger and Karen Cramer
November 2, 2012
We were saddened to learn of your loss. Rick will be greatly missed by all that knew him. Rick was instrumental in getting Rod and Sarah settled in Moses Lake where Rod is finally getting a chance to use his training.
Lee Glines
November 1, 2012
It was my pleasure to be associated with Richard for many years at the BYU Salt Lake Center. I appreciated very much his friendship and his commitment to his students. My condolences to the family at this time of loss.
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