DeWayne Harbrecht

1945 - 2022

DeWayne J Harbrecht

1945 ~ 2022

- DeWayne J Harbrecht passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at age 77. Dewayne was born April 28, 1945, in Los Angeles, California. He was the youngest of two children of Henry Jared and Jessie Ness (Betteridge) Harbrecht. At about the age of 5, DeWayne developed Perthes disease, a rare condition of the hip that affects children. As was the case with DeWayne, Perthes often affects active, athletic children. He was encouraged to keep weight off his leg and had to wear a special apparatus to position his leg correctly. This required that he use crutches to get around. Of course, being less active was not in DeWayne's nature. He would play around with his crutches and do flips on the lawn. He ultimately had to wear a leg brace to help with the weight and keep his hip joint in the proper position for two years. Growing up DeWayne loved to swim and was a good diver, he played ward basketball, and was a very talented tennis player, lettering in high school. He graduated from Murray High School in 1963, and immediately joined the Utah Army National Guard and served his country honorably for 6 years.

DeWayne married his high school sweetheart, Gail Hodell on May 7, 1965 in the Salt Lake Temple. DeWayne and Gail settled in Murray, Utah where they raised their family. DeWayne and Gail had a special relationship just like both of their parents. They were married for 57 wonderful years.

Family meant everything to DeWayne. He and Gail lived only minutes from each of their parents and loved being close to them. He worked alongside his father, father-in-law, and brothers-in-law building his current home and many of their homes as well. He enjoyed building with wood, including desks for his children, shelves, and a child's cupboard. He was a hard worker and perfectionist, he always made sure things were done right the first time. His motto was "measure twice, cut once."

DeWayne followed in his father's footsteps working for the phone company. After 38 years, he retired from Lucent Technologies in 2002. He worked on cellular sites all over Utah and surrounding states. He was a pioneer in the phone industry being one of the first ones to work on cell towers.

DeWayne worked hard, but also played hard, he enjoyed water skiing and camping at the lake with his extended family. While on work transfer in Arizona he learned to golf and continued his love of golf through retirement, participating in many tournaments each year in Salt Lake City, Moab and St. George, Utah.

DeWayne was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, faithfully serving in many capacities, including the High Priests group and Elders quorum. However, his most rewarding calling was serving the members of his ward as a Home Teacher or Ministering Brother.

He was a loving and supportive husband, father, and grandfather. He was always willing to help in any way he could.

DeWayne is survived by his wife Gail; son: Chris (Mindy) Harbrecht; daughter: Sheree (Jeff) Nalwalker; brother: Robert (Sherrie) Harbrecht; grandchildren: Ashley (Nick) Iverson, Jared Nalwalker, Camrynn Nalwalker, Marni (Rigby) Butikofer, Kelli Harbrecht; great-grandchildren: Kaden Iverson, Emersyn Iverson. He was preceded in death by his parents.

A funeral service will be held Thursday, November 17, 2022, at 11:00 am at the Brownstone Chapel, 6410 South 725 East, Murray, Utah. A viewing will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2022 from 10:00-10:45 am at the church prior to the funeral.

Interment will be at the Murray City Cemetery, 5600 South Vine Street, Murray, Utah.

For those unable to attend in person, a live webcast of the funeral service may be viewed at www.jenkins-soffe.com.