- Date Of Birth: June 27, 1974
- Date Of Death: November 18, 2020
- State: Utah
Bryan David North, age 46, of North Ogden, Utah left this earthly existence and went home to be reunited with a loving Heavenly Father, his Savior Jesus Christ, beloved Grandparents and others who love and care for him on November 18th, 2020.
He was born on June 27, 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the son of Gordon and Carol North who consider him to be a choice spirit child of God. He came to this earth with many challenges, both mental and physical, and as he often said, “It is what it is!”, and would make no excuses for himself.
He is survived by one sister, Lisa Navarro, and one brother, Michael North who he truly loved. He was married to Jennifer Eliason and together they had his three precious children; Bridger his “best buddy”, Savannah who he was so proud of and who just returned 3 weeks ago from her LDS mission to Dnipro, Ukraine, and his youngest son, Kaleb, who just left to serve his mission in Birmingham, England. They were the light and delight of his life as he was so proud of them! He was also ‘dad’ to Lily Jones, and he considered himself to not only be ‘uncle’ but also a ‘dad’ to his nephews Kodee and Kade LeFevre. Later he married Melissa McKendrick for a short time.
He was educated in the North Ogden schools and graduated from high school in Salt Lake City. He also attended Weber State University for a short time and had a desire to further study psychology and social work.
He worked for about 10 years as a heavy equipment operator for Salt Lake City Corp., driving ‘huge’ trucks that had tires bigger than 6 ft. high, back-hoes, sanitation trucks, snow plows, etc, which he loved doing. He got a big kick out of being Karl Malone’s garbage man.
He was a member of the North Ogden 9th Ward and loved the gospel of Jesus Christ with all his heart. He was raised in a home where the gospel was lived and taught but he considered himself a ‘convert’ at the age of 21 when he invited the missionaries in Clearfield to teach him. It was at this time he gained his strong testimony of the truthfulness of the scriptures, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon to which he has remained strong and faithful. He studied the scriptures daily, consistently and likened them unto himself which he was told to do. His other favorite book to study from was “The Discourses of Brigham Young” and of course books concerning Porter Rockwell. He also strongly believed that when one performed acts of Christian services that one didn’t let the right hand know what the left was doing or in other words remain anonymous and not seek reward or recognition of men. One of his favorite things to do was to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and jelly, some bananas, apples and oranges – put them in a sack along with a Book of Mormon, get in his truck and go find a person who looked hungry or homeless and give it to them. Often at 7-11 he would see a homeless person who looked weary or worn and walk up to them and put a $10 or $20 bill in their hand and walk away.
He regularly had meaningful prayer with his Heavenly Father and so he often “talked” throughout the day with Him when others thought he was talking to himself – but not so! He was praying!
Another thing Bryan would always do at parting was to give the person a big hug and tell them “I love you”! With his mother they would always say good-by with “I love you!” and the other would always say “I love you more!” which were the last words they spoke to each other here on earth.
He had a lot of favorites: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter egg hunts, Halloween, and everything in between. He loved taking his kids to family reunions at Mt. Rushmore, Cripple Creek Colorado, Nebraska, and all over the country. Believe it or not he loved classical music as well as his rock and rap music. He loved riding his great big noisy Harley Davidson bike, snowboarding, dirt biking, playing football, boxing with his boys, swimming baseball and more. He loved spending time with his kids taking them to Boondocks, Lagoon, the train station or wherever else there was something fun to do. He was a diehard over the top Green Bay Packer fan. He loved collecting rocks and he loved to visit Bryson’s Rock Shop. He also had a real passion to write about his thoughts, feelings, and experiences in his journals.
His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue which was his favorite color. He was unusually cheerful as a child and always had such a sunny disposition.
He owned his two favorite pieces of art. One was ‘Oh Jerusalem’ painted by Greg Olsen, and the other being ‘Journey’s End’ painted by Derek Hegstead who he met and starred with in the Book of Mormon videos that have been shown at the Visitors Center on Temple Square for the past 15 years. Bryan played the part of “Sam” the brother of Nephi and Derek played the part of “Laman”. What an experience that was!
One of his favorite songs by Kenneth Cope was called “Broken”.
Broken clouds bring rain
Broken soil grows grain
Broken bread feeds man for one more day
Broken storms yield light
The break of day heals night
Broken pride turns blindness into sight
Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for the offering
Could it be that God loves broken things
Broken chains set free
Broken swords bring peace
Broken walls make friends of you and me
To break the ranks of sin
To break the new of Him
To put on Christ till His name feels broken in
Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
I believe that God loves broken things
And yet, our broken faith, our broken promises
Sent love to the cross
And still, that broken flesh, that broken heart of His
Offers us such grace and mercy
Covers us with love undeserving
This broken soul that cries for mending
This broken heart for offering
I’m convinced that God loves broken me
Praise His name-my God loves broken things.
