David Kay Lauritzen

David Kay Lauritzen passed peacefully from this life on March 28, 2023 at his home in Layton, Utah.
David was born April 28, 1950 in rural East Los Angeles County, California to Orson William Lauritzen and Shirley Elma Rhoades; he was the fourth of eleven children.  From an early age, he distinguished himself in student government, athletics, and academics, graduating one year early from Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, California.  He completed his education at Brigham Young University, earning both his B.A. and J.D. degrees, and then he received a post-doctoral degree from Georgetown University, which awarded him an L.L.M. in Taxation.
David’s passion in this life was his family.  He married the love of his life, Martha Gail Florence on May 8, 1975 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  Together they had seven children and 12 grandchildren.  He felt that there was no greater calling, accomplishment or achievement in life than that of being a good husband, father, and grandfather.  Throughout his life, he would routinely interrupt his own personal, professional and other activities to support the needs, wishes, and endeavors of members of his family.
David was very active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He served a two-year mission in Finland, from which his internal thermostat never really recovered as he preferred the cold to heat for the rest of his life.  He also served in many other ward, stake, and temple callings, including Deacon’s Quorum President, Teacher’s Quorum President, Assistant to the Bishop in the Priest’s Quorum, District and Zone Leader in the Finnish Mission, Elder’s Quorum President, High Priest Group Leader, Veil Worker, Temple Ordinance Worker, Stake Missionary, Executive Secretary to the Stake Mission Leader, Executive Secretary to two bishops, Deacon’s Quorum Advisor, Teacher’s Quorum Advisor, a Counselor in the Stake Sunday School Presidency, Gospel Doctrine Teacher (several times), Sunday School Teacher (several times, including 12-13 year olds, 15-16 year olds, 16-17 year olds, gospel essentials class and investigator class), Priesthood Quorum Instructor in the Elders, Seventy, and High Priest quorums, Varsity Scout High Adventure advisor, Chairman of the Scout committee, and more.  David was repeatedly called upon to teach the gospel in Sunday school, Priesthood and other meetings and venues.  He loved all of his callings, but he particularly loved sharing and teaching the gospel to others.  He was a master teacher and he spent hours each week preparing his missionary or Sunday School lessons.
David was very active in both family and personal history.  For more than 20 years, he sent a weekly email to dozens of people recounting the family’s activities for that week, accompanied by pictures, with his sign-off line always being, “I hope everything is going well for you and yours.”  He also spent years writing a detailed, researched personal history.
David loved to travel.  During his life, he traveled to all seven continents, including Antarctica, and more than 34 countries and to most of the United States.  He felt that traveling helped him to see the differences and diversity in the world and to become more tolerant of other peoples and cultures.  He took a number of special international and domestic trips with his wife and children.
David excelled in his profession, specializing as a tax and estate attorney, and he received many awards and honors.  He was a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, an “Accredited Estate Planner” and a “Certified Elder Law Attorney.”  He was a delegate to the 2005 decennial White House Conference on Aging.  He was the Chairman of the Estate Planning Section of the Utah State Bar, and President of the Salt Lake Estate Planning Council.  He was a member of the Utah Medical Association’s Blue Ribbon Committee dealing with legal/medical issues including the prolongation of life through heroic medical measures.  He was directly involved in the drafting and enactment of the Utah Personal Choice and Living Will Act.  David also had a sense of humor about being an attorney, and he would stockpile and tell lawyer jokes to professional audiences and in informal groups.
David was involved and worked with several charities and non-profit organizations.  He served on the Board of Directors and as the first President of the ALS Association of Utah.  He was a member of the Alumni Board of the BYU Law School, on the Board of Directors of the Utah Alzheimer’s Association, and was as a member of the Primary Children’s Hospital Planned Giving Committee.  He also served as a member and the first chairperson of the Bountiful High School Community Council.  He donated time to the Utah Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, the Utah Gerontology Society, and the Utah Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  He worked many years with the Boy Scouts of America and over the years he took many 14-16 year old boy scouts on several summer high adventure backpacking trips, including trips to the Wind Rivers area and the Teton National Park in Wyoming, and on five different two-week trips to the Philmont National Boy Scout Ranch in Cimarron, N.M.
David anchored his life decisions upon trying to learn and follow correct principles, hoping to gain lasting happiness in his life.  As a teenager, he read, learned, and loved the following quote:
Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God. But we cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them, and we cannot expect to know all, or more than we now know unless we comply with or keep those we have already received.
(Page 255 of “The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith.)
In many ways, this quote was David’s life’s mission statement and he lived his life and taught his family to pursue and view lasting joy and happiness as a primary goal of life through righteous living and in keeping God’s commandments.
David is survived by his beloved wife, Martha; children Rachael (Scott), Rebecca (Brent), David (Megan), Jonathan (Jessica), Sarah (Brandon), and Isaac; daughter-in-law, Rebekah Diaz Pons Lauritzen; and 9 grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his son Jacob, his parents, three siblings, and three grandchildren.
We love you, Dad.  We will miss you terribly.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 7, 2023 at 11 a.m. at the Crestwood Meetinghouse, 1039 Crestwood Road, Kaysville, Utah, with interment at the Memorial Lakeview Cemetery, 1640 East Lakeview Drive, Bountiful, Utah.  A viewing will be held Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Crestwood Meetinghouse.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in David’s name to the Humanitarian Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or to donate.churchofjesuschrist.org/donations/church/missionary-fund.
Service Information
Viewing April 6, 2023 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Church of Jesus Christ Crestwood Meetinghouse





Viewing April 7, 2023 at 9:30-10:30 AM
Church of Jesus Christ Crestwood Meetinghouse





Funeral Service
April 7, 2023 at 11:00 AM
Church of Jesus Christ Crestwood Meetinghouse