Robert Cloyd Behunin

Dear Family Members, Loved Ones, Friends, Neighbors, Builders, Contractors, Developers, but especially all you Ol' Cowboys and Cowgirls who rode the trails or had your horses shod by Bob:
For the record:
Robert Cloyd Behunin (Bob) was born on November 22,1939, to Fern Coleman Taft and Franklin Isaac Behunin of Torrey, UT. He was the beloved "Baby Boy," the youngest of seven children. Fern and Frank divorced, and Fern married Ray Berry who brought other children into Bob's life, but none so beloved as his surviving half-sister (and fellow LA Dodgers fanatic!) Ila Rae (Perrine) of Cerritos, CA. Bob passed away peacefully in his Cedar City, UT, home on May 17, 2025, after a heroic battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Penny--his sweetheart of 61 years-preceded him, passing on April 24, 2024.
That said:
Growing up in Wayne County and then Provo in the 1940's in a blended family was, well, challenging by any generational standard. Bob and his brothers slept in the "bunkhouse" which had no running water, only a small stove for heat, an outhouse, and, if he was lucky, he would get two baked potatoes to put in his blanket to keep him warm as he went to sleep-which then became hashbrowns for breakfast.
As the rambunctious baby boy, Bob never sat still. He always found more than one creative, daring way to, how shall we say it, "assert himself," which led to various outcomes: some good, some not so good, and some that, by all accounts, were rather amusing. On the "not so good side," when Bob was five years old, he was struck by a car (while playing in the street) and dragged for about a block. His left femur was badly broken but skillfully repaired by a talented surgeon. There's a famous black and white picture of the five-year old Bob poised on his wooden crutches sporting his twice turned, frayed, multi-patched, ragged pants, black lace-up leather shoes and V-neck sweater-looking every bit like Tiny Tim himself.
Bob would tell you that he grew up with "everything and nothing." Even though there were family and financial struggles, he always felt he had more than enough opportunities. And when his mother, Fern, moved the family to Lakewood, CA, in 1952 to accept a job with the US Navy and Veteran's Administration, Bob took advantage of school and athletics at Artesia High. He lettered in football and other sports, and he racked up a bunch of traffic tickets for having his car "too low to the ground." Not having sufficient financial means to pay the fines himself, and a single mom who tactically declined to pay the fines for him, the traffic court judge gave Bob the option to pay the fines or join the army. Go Army! Special Forces. Fort Ord, CA. It was an opportunity that molded and shaped the Bob we know and love.
It also led him to his "everything:" Penny. Had it not been for Bob, Penny would have missed her senior prom. Her prom date was in a tragic car accident just a few days before the prom. Her uncle, an LDS Bishop, happened to know a handsome (Clark Gable/James Dean mix) army guy on leave from Fort Ord. Bob and Penny went to the prom in 1962, married January 4, 1963, in the Los Angeles Temple and lived their best life for 61 years---fourteen years in Downey, CA and forty-seven in Cedar City.
After the army, Bob drove a school bus. Bus Number #5. At this time, it was known as the "Handicapped Bus." He formed a special friendship with a young man named Gary who had mild cerebral palsy. Bob would bring Gary home for dinner and to play basketball with Rob. No question Bob was tough, no-nonsense, and didn't suffer fools lightly, but his compassion was boundless. When Bob got his contractor's license and went to work building and repairing schools in the LaMirada School District, the children and families of Bus Number #5 were crestfallen.
Bob worked in the construction industry in California until 1978 when he and Penny packed up Rob, Frank, Devey and Jennifer and moved them back home to Utah-Cedar City. Bob became the building inspector and chief planning and zoning official in 1979 working with mayors, city councils, city managers and city attorneys from Jack Sawyer to Gerald Sherratt.
Bob's true love, next to Penny, was being on a horse. Fortunately, he found brotherhood and friendship with a highly reputable band of Cedar City desperados headed up by the ERA Real Estate broker who sold Bob and Penny their house in 1978-Brad Schmutz. The farm, the cows, the New Harmony to Pine Valley cattle drives with Frank, the years of 4-H with his rodeo princess Jennifer, meant everything to him. Bob was so happy being on top of a horse that he decided to go to professional farrier school so he could be underneath a horse as well-just for kicks! Bob shoed horses from Idaho to Las Vegas: pleasure horses, trail horses, show horses and racehorses. He's got a picture book, Bob's Book of Bruises, which he cherished.
As Bob battled MDS and then acute myeloid leukemia over the last five years, he was the quintessential "good soldier," and he had "good troops" at the Cedar City Intermountain Health Cancer Center who fought with him. Bob loved his caregivers. He knew his diagnosis would never allow him to "ring the bell," but he was never afraid to do the difficult. "If you want to get somewhere in this life, you must be willing to do the difficult." That was his mantra, and he lived by it to the end.
From all of us, Rob, Devey, Jenny and our entire extended family, we thank you for all your love and support and for loving Bob as much as we do.
And per Bob's instructions, he gets the last word: "I want to thank everyone who took care of me and my Penny in our later years. My special thanks go to my daughter Devey who never left my side and who was there on the good days and the grumpy days, and to her employers at the Leavitt Group who gave her the flexibility to be our guardian angel. And my thanks to my grandson Levi Wood who lived with me and Penny for over a year, providing laughter, comfort and peace of mind."
Funeral services for Bob will be as follows:
Viewing: Friday, May 23, 6pm to 8pm, Southern Utah Mortuary,190 North 300 West Cedar City, UT, 84720.
Viewing: Saturday, May 24th, 9:30am to 10:30am Cedar West Stake Center, 725 South 1100 West, Cedar City, UT, 84720.
Funeral Service: Saturday, May 24th, 11:00am Cedar West Stake Center, 725 South 1100 West, Cedar City, UT, 84720.
Interment: Wednesday, May 28th, 11:30am, Cedar City Cemetery under the direction of Southern Utah Mortuary, with military honors.
To view the livestream of the service and share online condolences, please visit www.mortuary.org.
In lieu of flowers, we request that if you wish to honor Bob, please consider making a donation to our local Intermountain Health Cedar City Hospital. Funds will go towards supporting the cancer center.
• Make your charitable donations through checks made payable to Intermountain Foundation.
• In the memo line or with a note, please share that the gift is in honor of Bob Behunin, for Cedar City Hospital.
• Mailing address: 1380 E. Medical Center Drive, St. George, UT 84790
• Questions? Please call 435-251-2480