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Bangs Tapscott Obituary
1935 - 2024
Salt Lake City, UT-Bangs Leslie Tapscott was born in Riverside, California, as an only child to parents Bangs and Aline Tapscott. He grew up in Indio, California, and its surrounding areas. One of his first jobs was at a gas station as a mechanic/body and fender repairman. In 1954, Bangs attended a high school dance, and met the love of his life, Fran. Shortly after, he asked her out, confidently proclaiming on their first date that he would marry her. Five years later, in 1959, they were married.
Bangs studied under-grad at the University of Oregon. During the late 1950s, he spent a year in Mexico City, with Fran patiently waiting for his return. In Mexico, a stranger on the street offered him a parrot chick for 75 pesos - about $5 at the time. He said, "throw in the cage and you have a deal." Thus, Green Bird, became the beloved family pet for 48 years.
After college, the couple moved to Seattle, where Bangs received his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Washington, then to Salt Lake City, where he taught Philosophy at the University of Utah for the duration of his career. Bangs and Fran started a family within two years of settling in Salt Lake having a son, Christopher, and daughter Teresa.
Bangs nurtured a variety of hobbies through his life, displaying a particular fascination with computers, tinkering with computer parts and technology. In his early years, he developed a fondness for creating hand-thrown pottery, a craft he affectionately termed "Scotts Pots." However, it was music that truly captivated him. Bangs was a talented musician, skilled at playing guitar, standup bass, and some vocals, with a vast mental library of thousands of songs. He was heavily involved with Intermountain Acoustic Music Association, where he held several roles, too numerous to list, over the years. He extended his love of music by playing in The Oquirrh Ridge Drifters and Bluegrass Conspiracy. After retirement, Bangs became adept at repairing and restoring clocks. He began a deep exploration of the Bible, initially sharing his findings in emails to friends. However, the endeavor led to the creation of a two-volume set of self-published books.
Bangs continued to do well after the passing of his wife, Fran, in 2017, living independently with his three cats. Late in 2023, his health began to decline, and he subsequently passed away of natural causes in the arms of his children on Sunday, January 7th.
He is survived by son Chris (Mary) Tapscott, daughter Teresa Tapscott, granddaughter Ryley (Matt) Mortensen, grandson Alex Tapscott, with a great-grandson on the way. The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the staff at Symbii Hospice and all of the many caregivers from Visiting Angels who tended to Bangs. There will be a Celebration of Life announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Bangs Tapscott
Brent Logan
October 2, 2024
His 1965 Enlightenment philosophers course at the UW was beyond brilliant, seeding a philosophic life. For a new book I was going to query him about whether the multiverse as a set of infinite possibilities is limited by Russell's Paradox--but we might meet multiversally to discuss that . . .
Mostafa Ghandehari
June 24, 2024
Professor Tapscott was instructor in applied symbolic logic. A course which I took as an undergrad at the U. Later I became a math faculty for number of years. I enjoyed auditing his philosophy courses when I visited Salt Lake City. It was enjoyable to listen to his music on campus.
Mostafa Ghandehari
Mr Kerry Gore
May 8, 2024
I did not have the privilege of meeting Professor Tapscott. I am grateful to him for his excellent and thought provoking works in the field of logic. I have learned a great deal from them and I have no doubt that they will continue to help others on their path of learning. I believe he would be happy to know this.
Gene Fitzgerald
March 1, 2024
I did not know Bangs extremely well, however, I shared many duties at the U of Utah with him on various university committees. He was always genial and friendly and had a deep understanding of the whims of university dealings . He was always a pleasure to be with and I enjoyed his company immensely .
Charlotte Bell
February 28, 2024
I first met Bangs when I was editor of The Event Newspaper. He would come in each month to print the IAMA newsletter so he could take it to the printer. I thought he was a bit of a curmudgeon back then. But when I took over the IAMA newsletter in the mid-'90s, I got to know him much better. We'd talk on the phone each month around deadline time. When I'd call and I'd identify myself, he'd always say, "So it is." That became our salutation in all the emails we exchanged from then on. As I got to know Bangs better, I got to see his caring side, especially in the way he interacted with his beloved cats. Over the years, I came to know Bangs as a wise-if sometimes curmudgeonly-teacher with a heart of gold.
I was fortunate to be one of the people to whom he sent his Bible missives. I always looked forward to reading them. They were not only insightful and clear headed, but they were also always entertaining.
The SLC bluegrass world has lost a giant.
Bob Cantonwine
February 27, 2024
I got to know Bangs when I joined the IAMA Board. It took a while, but the more we interacted, the more I grew fond of him. We worked closely together as volunteers with IAMA to the extent that when I served as President, he was Vice President. He taught me a lot and I´ve considered him as one of my life´s mentors. I loved visits in he and Fran´s home where we sipped wine and he showed me stuff. I have several LPs of Folk, Bluegrass and Jazz that were his. After a visit at my house, he filled his van with boxes of yarn that I had inherited from an Aunt. Fran used the yarn to make beautiful afghans to be donated to women in shelters. I will carry fond memories of my friends, Bangs and Fran to my end. Condolences to his family.
John Halleck
February 4, 2024
I first met Bangs when my family moved in next door to him. I remember him in his back yard banging away on some metal trying out his new anvil.
Later, when I went to the UofU, his Modal Logic class was recommended to me by the instructor of my first symbolic logic course.
I have kept in touch every now and then... and they were were always worthwhile talks.
Denise F Castleton
January 25, 2024
Bangs Tapscott taught the most difficult of my classes as a philosophy major in 1971-72. He made the exams in symbolic logic long and hard. I once asked him why, since the reasoning had already been done, do we need to hurry in evaluating it? At the time, I had no idea that I would use those truth tables very, very often in my unanticipated career in information technology, but the facility with logic and emphasis on quickness that he required served me well for 35 years. While he taught rigorous courses at Utah, he was a generous and entertaining host. I remember him best singing old labor union songs, accompanying himself on a guitar. For some reason Green Bird always had something to say about that. I am so sorry that he's gone.
Gary Logan
January 24, 2024
I remember Dr. Tapscott from my 1971 U of U freshman Deductive Logic class, reading from his own, paper-bound text book. Fascinating lecturer and interesting man.
I did not know him personally but admired him.
Fair journey, Dr. Tapscott.
Ken Southwick
January 22, 2024
I can´t say this about many people, but Bangs Tapscott changed the course of my life. In the mid 80s (fall of `86 maybe?), I was a young undergraduate student at the U. of Utah majoring in international business. Because it sounded interesting and met a GE requirement, I took his "Philosophy in Literature" class. Loved every bit of it. At the end of the semester, he wrote something like this in the journal we were required to keep for the class: "You have a good mind for philosophy. You should consider taking other philosophy courses." A semester or two later, I switched majors, graduated with a degree in philosophy, did graduate work in philosophy, and ended up in a career that has been informed by my education in philosophy, including teaching it at the university level for six years. Thank you Professor Tapscott. RIP always.
Mark Anger
January 20, 2024
Bangs was a great guy to know I will miss Him
Joe Kelleher
January 19, 2024
As a philosophy undergrad in the 1970s, I took Bangs´s class on symbolic logic, an inherently dry topic that he enlivened, against all odds, with funny examples and lucid exposition. His Xeroxed lecture notes eventually became a 500-page Prentice-Hall textbook that is still well-reviewed on Amazon.
I gravitated toward his playful intellectual curiosity and sardonic attitude. As his teaching assistant, I found that we shared interests in sci-fi time-travel paradoxes and in puns that were not just bad but complexly bad.
He was generous and accessible in the name of learning. When I became curious as to why Russell and Whitehead´s "Principia Mathematica" should require 379 pages just to show that 1+1=2, I enlisted his aid, and it grew into a rewarding two-quarter independent study project on the foundations of mathematics.
Bangs would have enthusiastically endorsed my applications to Ph.D. programs in philosophy, but I chose to stray from academia and join the workaday world. Today, my only misgiving about that decision is that I know it disappointed him.
He was a committed and effective teacher and a good person.
Gene Fitzgerald
January 18, 2024
I did not know Bangs well, but aways appreciated his wit, his perseverance in pursuit of right thinking, especially about politics. I last saw him at a reception for the Brundvands not that long age. He was a solid presence at all things at the U of Utah and he will be missed.
Ray Matthews
January 18, 2024
I first met Bangs as a graduate student enamored with the new Mac computer that had just come out. Bangs was the leader/editor of the Mac Users group on campus and guided me back in those early days. Then when I became interested in folk music and joined IAMA around 1990, Bangs was there as a leader, too, becoming eventually the newsletter editor and sharing his breadth of music knowledge. He's someone I've always admired and looked up to. Our community has been infinitely blessed and enriched through his life well lived.
Jan Brunvand
January 17, 2024
When I came to the University of Utah in 1966 my office was between Bangs' office and Tom Sobchack's in the old Annex. We agreed that we were not in exile from our departments, but had several advantages such as reliable parking, a snack bar/cafe in the building, and good exercise walking to our distant classrooms. Also, if a student took the trouble to find us up there in that funny old building, he or she was serious. In later years I kept in touch with Bangs through our mutual interest in Apple Computers, bluegrass, and jazz music. I have a nice set of records that Bangs gave me when he decided to quit playing lps. The last time Bangs, Tom, and I were together was at my 90th birthday party last March, as seen in this photo. I'm so glad he was able to come, and several of his old pals were also there to greet him. Bangs brought me a wonderful gift: a DVD of a concert with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, something I would never thought of buying for myself.
Bonnie Weiss
January 14, 2024
I was the treasurer for Heart and Soul, an amazing non-profit which takes music to isolated communities, and I remember seeing Bangs' name on so many shows. He made a lot of people happy with his performances and it was obvious to me he enjoyed doing it. May he rest in peace and find that same happiness he gave to so many. My condolences to his family. He was a great man!
David Appleby
January 13, 2024
Bangs was totally down-to-earth and unpretentious. But his interest in ideas, people, crafts & skills, and some animals - the intensity with which he focused on whatever he pursued: he showed by example that boredom has no place in a fully realized human life. Bangs was also deeply generous in sharing his enthusiasm for good things with anyone he encountered, and patiently meeting them at whatever level they were on. I look around but do not see his equal. Yet he inspired and kindled many minds and spirits, so maybe he´s still present, sort of. Not hearing his laughter again is hard.
Linda Griffen
January 13, 2024
So many IAMA memories of and with Bangs, it would be hard to define the first. One thing he did for my family is to repair a clock valued for the sentiment attached to a deceased spouse. He was kind, compassionate and often very funny. He hasn't been on the music scene in these last few years, but it is one he can take credit for creating. It still lives and grows.
Cynthia Colby White
January 13, 2024
A great guy, Bangs was my cousin and always interesting. I loved hearing him ply music and sing. And Fran, always with a smile. RIP cousin, thinking of your family at this time. Love our family. Cynthia Colby White
Scott MacLeod
January 13, 2024
Scott MacLeod shares:
Bangs and Fran taught me how to make cold packed dill pickles from his Aunt Renee's recipe.
Went to see him one evening and play some songs he requested. Ended up in the living room listening to his wonderful collection of early jazz. As I was walking out, he took a hat from the rack and gave it to me.
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