John Philip Schaelling

John Philip Schaelling passed peacefully into the next life September 1, 2023, surrounded by family on both sides of the veil. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday. Philip was born August 17th, 1943, to Francis Warren Schaelling and Ada Walker Ward and spent his childhood in Utah, Missouri, and Texas with siblings Chuck, Edith, Joseph, and Sylvia. While his final years were spent in Northern Virginia, Philip liked to consider himself a citizen of the world. An apt description, considering he has also called; Edmonton, Alberta; Lovell, Wyoming; Portland, Oregon; Layton, Utah; Ft Walton Beach, Florida; Clovis, New Mexico; Yokota, Japan; and Ft Leavenworth, Kansas home at certain points in his life.
After graduating from Richardson High School in 1961, he served a two-and-a-half-year mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he became fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish. Philip then attended Utah State University where he was awarded a bachelors degree in education. He later attended the University of Texas-Pan American to complete a masters degree in educational diagnostics.
After completing his bachelors, Philip accepted a job as an institute teacher for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Edmonton, Alberta where he spent 15 years teaching the gospel while completing coursework for a masters degree in Greek classics where he learned to read the language. While in Edmonton Philip built a log home by hand from start to finish, where he lived with his wife, Diane Kowallis and their six children. While he treasured his time there with his family, they had to relocate in order to keep their United States citizenship and moved to McAllen, Texas in 1986 where he continued his teaching career and completed his masters in educational diagnostics. In 1989 Philip relocated once more to Austin, Texas when he accepted a job as institute director, but retired from the profession in 1991.
When Philip left the education industry, he spent some time working with his family in Lovell, Wyoming, and in 1992 he married his current wife, Colleen Batty. They spent their first nine years of marriage working in small business management before Colleen joined the Air Force. Philip spent the next twenty years as a military spouse and stay-at-home father for their two daughters. Though much of his time was spent homeschooling said children, Philip also found time for a multitude of hobbies.
While Philip utilized his formal education in his career, he often said it was only when he finished college that he had the time to study subjects he really wanted to. A lifelong learner, he became well versed in hobbies including, but not limited to, photography, scuba diving, hiking, cross country skiing, golfing, tennis, canoeing, teaching self-defense, regular and bass guitars, astronomy, chess, reading ancient Greek, shooting, underwater photography, sailing, rock climbing, forging knives, making bows and arrows, studying microorganisms, video editing, and drone photography. He continued his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served in a wide variety of callings, often sharing his wealth of knowledge with others.
Philip was a beloved husband, son, brother, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife: Colleen Schaelling of Springfield, Virginia; his siblings: Chuck Schaelling of Springville, Utah; and Sylvia Bischoff (Michael) of Lehi Utah; his children: Logan Rivers of Madeira, Portugal; Jim Schaelling (Lita) of Logan, Utah; Joseph Schaelling (Gillian) of Portland, Oregon; Steven Schaelling (Marianne) of Pleasant View, Utah; Sarah John (Jeff) of St. George, Utah; Deborah Johnson (Jackie) of Carthage, New York; and Elisabeth Himelberger (Alex) of Logan, Utah; his sixteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents: Francis and Ada Schaelling, his siblings: Joseph Schaelling and Edith Meibos, his sister-in-law: Jeanine Schaelling, and his daughter: Mary Irwin.
The funeral service will be held Tuesday September 12, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building located at 851 N 1200 E in Lehi, Utah. A viewing will be held prior to the service from 9:30-10:45 a.m. Interment will take place at the Utah Veteran's Cemetery at 2:00 p.m.
Those wishing to view the service via Zoom can click "Watch Services" or follow the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84322076621