Eric Conrad Showgren

Eric Conrad Showgen (Gpizzle) passed away peacefully the morning of September 28th at the age of 85.

Eric was born May 4th, 1940 in West Hollywood, California. He was the only son of his namesake Eric Conrad Showgren and mother Phyllis Hawkins Showgren. He graduated from Venice High School in 1958 and later attended UCLA and then BYU where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Eric served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in what was then known as the Southern States mission (from Alabama down to Florida), where he spent two years serving the people of the area. After his mission, Eric enlisted in the Army Reserves and honorably served his country for 2 years as a military police officer. His training as an MP allowed him to briefly work as a police officer for Springville City, Utah while finishing his degree at BYU.

In 1967, Eric met the love of his life, Sally Orton Showgren. They were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on June 2nd, 1967. Eric was recruited by Ford Motor Company out of BYU and this required their young family to move to Dearborn, Michigan. As he moved up in the company as an auditor, his range of dealerships to audit would both change and grow and required a move to San Jose, California before eventually moving to Provo, Utah, when Ford gave them the opportunity to choose where they wanted to live. Provo was home for years until they built a house on land once owned by Sally’s father in Mapleton, Utah. The Mapleton home is where they grew old together and Eric learned to be a Grandpa.

When Eric retired from Ford, he enjoyed retirement for about 60 days and then took a job with the state of Utah as an insurance fraud investigator, investigating insurance companies. He fell victim to the mandatory retirement age and really went from a father who was often gone on a business trip to a beloved and cherished grandfather. His unique sense of humor truly was on display in his last years. He was the king of Dad Jokes, but didn't usually realize they were Dad Jokes when he was telling them. He loved to play games. Some of us will treasure our memories of him playing “keep the balloon off the ground” on family vacations in recent years, showing off his fake Russian accent and those times he just loved to tease.

Eric loved to talk. To be honest, he often talked too much, shared too much with strangers and would strike up a conversation with anyone at any time. He loved talking about BYU football, cars and well, everything. He also was super devoted to mowing his huge lawn. He would often mow it more often and shorter than it needed to be, but he was at peace riding his mower. He held the same 3 season tickets to BYU football for decades. He spent his last few days watching old BYU games, and we love to imagine that one of his last memories was of his beloved Cougars bringing home a comeback win Saturday night.

Eric is survived by his wife Sally and by his children; Lori Elquist (Mike) of Spanish Fork, Utah; Glenn Showgren (Allison) of Waunakee, Wisconsin; Brett Showgren of Mapleton, Utah; Jeremy Showgren (Lauren) of Mapleton, Utah; Emily Scheuer (Renato) of Spanish Fork, Utah; 17 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. He was preceded in passing by his parents and twin sons, Bryan and Ryan.

A viewing will be held for Eric on Thursday, October 2nd, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Wheeler Mortuary Mapleton, 82 West 400 North in Mapleton. On Friday, October 3rd, a viewing will be held from 9:30 - 10:30 am, followed by the funeral at 11:00, at the church located at 825 East Hawks Rest Drive in Mapleton. Interment will be at the Evergreen Cemetery in Springville, Utah.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.