- Date Of Birth: July 23, 1947
- Date Of Death: July 11, 2020
- State: Utah
Earl Leonard Thedell passed away peacefully, returning home to his Father in Heaven on Saturday, July 11, 2020. Earl was born on July 23, 1947 in Ogden, Utah to Karl and Bessie Thedell. He grew up in Ogden and graduated from Bonneville High School.
He was a proud Vietnam Veteran. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 15 Nov 1965. After serving 2 years on the USS Noxubee (AOG-56) he was discharged into the U.S. Naval Reserves where he proudly served until his military retirement. While serving his country in the U.S. Navy, he received the following Medals: National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. Later, he completed his career by serving his country working at HAFB in the maintenance area. He proudly retired from civilian service to babysit his first grandbaby.
He married the love of his life, Connie Rae Knight, 26 Dec 1980. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1981; she passed away 6 April 2016. He loved sharing his knowledge and love of the LDS teachings with his grandchildren. He also proudly performed all his grandchildren’s baby blessings.
He had just celebrated his 40-year sobriety birthday (2 June 1980). He loved the saying’s “Keep it Simple” and “One Day at a Time”. He also loved his AA family and community.
He loved spending time with his grandchildren. He would drop whatever plans he had to come to a last-minute dinner invite and looked forward to the ones planned in advance. He enjoyed going to the grandchildren’s soccer games, dance recitals, pre-school graduations and school functions. He was looking forward to camping with his family at their mountain property. They had just finished preparing his campsite for his trailer. He enjoyed fishing on his boat. Anything that was for the kids. Recently, he had made some great memories with them by going on some fun road trips to the Oregon Coast and the Redwoods.
He is survived by his daughter, Staci (Brendan) VanBrunt; three grandchildren, Harley, Haylie and Russell; sisters, Peggy (Paul) Fink, Karen Bradfield and Connie Kahikina. He was preceded in death by his wife, Connie; his parents, and brothers-in-law, Donald Bradfield and Alex Kahikina.
A special and heartfelt thanks to our family and friends for their loving support.
