Earl Abbott Wight

Earl Abbot Wight was born on March 29, 1931 to Celia Abbott Wight and Earl Frederick Wight, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He grew up in Salt Lake and graduated from East High School in 1949. His early interests included learning to downhill ski at Alta, Utah in the late 1940's, and doing custom auto body work along with his friends, on all of their hot-rods during those years. He attended the University of Utah around 1950, but was not well motivated; as he had not yet decided what career path his life should take. On October 11, 1951 he married Carol Ann Bates, and shortly thereafter, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed in Clovis, New Mexico. His time in the service was relatively uneventful; attempting to brew beer during the day, and at times included an occasional UFO sighting at night in the New Mexico desert.

His eldest son, E. Brayton Wight, was born in 1952 during this stay at Clovis. After returning to Salt Lake City, Earl decided to follow in his father's footsteps in pursuing a medical career. He worked very hard in school and was accepted as an alternate at the University of Utah Medical School. His second son, Mark Bates Wight, was born in 1956.  In 1959 Earl graduated from medical school and moved his young family to Mill Valley, California to serve a medical internship at San Francisco's VA Medical Center, commuting across the Golden Gate Bridge from Mill Valley. Later in 1959, his third son, James Curtis Wight, was born in San Francisco.

In 1960, Earl and family moved back to Salt Lake to begin his medical residency training in Internal Medicine. They traveled in a new white 1960 Buick (the one with the giant fins over the taillights).  After moving back to Salt Lake, Earl and Carol separated and later divorced in 1963.

In 1967, Earl married Kaye Strate Moreno, who had a nine-year-old son, Martin Kershaw Moreno. They were married until late 1974.  Marty however, loved the association he had developed with his stepfather Earl, and his three stepbrothers and decided to remain living with Earl. This close association as Earl's son lasted throughout Earl's life, and Marty remains an integral part of the Wight family to this day.

In the late '70s Earl married Sindi Harris, and they later divorced. In December of 1982 Earl married Bette Fennemore, and later divorced in 2001.

Earl loved the science and art of medicine. He also loved people. This love and his easygoing ways made dear friends of patients and colleagues alike. He seemed to be especially valued by rural people who often traveled considerable distances to see their "Dr. Wight". He was one of the first to embrace the then new specialty of cardiology and was certified in this specialty, as well as internal medicine. His colleagues also thought enough of him to elect him president of the Utah Society of Internal Medicine. During those years he also withdrew his membership in the American Medical Association, his judgment being that the Association looked out too much for the interests of physicians, and not enough for the interests of their patients. A well-known, large insurance company hired Earl as a their medical advisor, and later he was let go from this position - the only job he was ever fired from in his life. When asked why they let him go he replied that the organization was more interested in making money than serving the needs of their clients and that he kept telling them "things that they did not want to hear".

Above all else, he was a person of integrity and set an example of honesty and self-sacrifice for the principles and values he believed in. For that he was admired and loved by those who knew him well. These, and many other positive attributes he tried to instill in the lives of his four sons, who each felt Earl's lifelong support and concern for them.

Earl's interests also included hunting, fishing, boating, and running rivers. He was a founding member of the Ringneck Protection Association or RPA. This was a group of close friends, fellow pheasant hunters, who, at times, were such poor wing shots that the pheasants were thus protected. Hence, the name RPA. Children of those friends were eventually included in the organization as well (and they were better shots).

It is clear to those who knew Earl well that all of these activities were secondary to the real reason he pursued them - to spend time with dear friends and family. Each of Earl's four sons can attest to that!

In Earl's mid 60's he suffered a gradual loss of his eyesight, due to macular degeneration. This led to his inability to practice medicine, a big loss for him. He was able for a time to utilize his skills in helping those who did not have the ability to afford medical care, but he eventually retired from medicine in late 1999. In recent years his declining health led to immobility, which he faced with unusual and unwavering cheer and endurance. Throughout these personal challenges he never lost his sense of humor, or his genuine concern for his extended family, which he asked about continually.

He passed away and was relieved of the burden of mortality on December 1st, 2016.

His parents, his only sister, Shirley Wight Ashworth, and his first wife, Carol Ann Bates, preceded him in death.  He is survived by sons: Earl Brayton Wight (Genene Cochran Wight), Mark Bates Wight (Christine Nordahl Wight), Martin Kershaw Moreno (Noel Brewer Moreno), James Curtis Wight (Kathryn Bemis Wight), 12 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Earl's life will be held at Mt. Olympus Presbyterian Church, 3280 E. 3900 S. at 11am on December 22, 2016.  Holbrook Mortuary has provided cremation.

May God bless Earl to rejoice in reawakened vitality and opportunities, and the rediscovery of past relationships. Until we meet again!

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Haven for Addiction and Recovery, where Earl served on the board for several years.

The Haven, 974 East South Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102