William Garth Tolley

William Garth Tolley was mercifully able to "get out and walk" from his home on 30 April 2014, surrounded by loving family members. At 92 ½ he had outlived each of his male ancestors and his siblings. Garth was born 29 July 1921 in Nephi, Utah, to John Floyd (Jack) Tolley and Della Orme Tolley. He graduated from Juab High School, where he played trombone in the marching band.
He enrolled at Weber State College, but when the United States entered World War II he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Sonarman on the USS Motive, a minesweeper which was "first in and first out" at Kwajalin, Eniwetok, Saipan and Guam. Thanks to the GI Bill, he earned both a BS in Civil Engineering and a wife at the University of Utah. He and Patty Linn Farnsworth were married 11 September 1948, in the Salt Lake Temple. They graduated, along with her mother, in June 1949. In 1951 Garth went to work for the Utah State Road Commission (now UDOT) as a structural engineer, and for over 37 years designed various bridges and overpasses throughout Utah, being one of the first to use the new FORTRAN computer program. During the 1950s he built the family home in Salt Lake County. When it was completed, he and his family began exploring America with their tent and Vista Cruiser. He has been in every state, has climbed to the top of the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty, and descended to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. His first flight in an airplane was in 1984, when he flew to Hong Kong and Taiwan to meet a son and daughter as they completed missions there. He later flew to Meso American, Oberammergau and Israel. In 1982 he reluctantly took part in the Nauvoo Pageant and has since been in several ward and stake productions, including "Promised Valley." During the 2005 celebration of Joseph Smith's 200th birthday, he portrayed John Gilbert, who set the type for the Book of Mormon, at This Is The Place Heritage Park, where he has served as a volunteer for seventeen years, the last few in the Deseret News Press. In addition, he and Patty served a mission in Wanblee, South Dakota, and in the Employment Center on Welfare Square. Washington's Birthday always marked the beginning of pruning of his dozen fruit trees and, having had no sisters, he was the chief canner of the resulting fruit. During cool weather he braided rugs or turned beautiful bowls and lamps from whatever wood happened to be available. But most of all he was a loving father to his ten children, 37 grandchildren, and 35 or so great-grandchildren. He was a hugs and meet- the-school-bus grandpa with an extraordinary sneeze and a taste for Lawrence Welk music. He was able to be a witness for both an adoptive sealing and a baptism during his last month in mortality, and his last coherent words were to be sure to meet Hiram's bus. He is survived by his wife and children: Bill (Janet); Ron (Joyce); Judy (David) Parrish; Larry (Sandra); Darrell (Michelle); Karen; Howard (LeAnne); Melissa (Mark) Wilson; Neal (Jody Lynn); and Joseph (Michele). He was preceeded in death by two brothers, Kent and Robert, and two grandsons, David Parrish and Carson Bench. Services will be held Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 11 a.m. in the Kenwood Second Ward, 3080 South 1765 East, Salt Lake County. A viewing will be held Wednesday, May 7, 2014 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Holbrook Mortuary 3251 So. 2300 East and at the Ward from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Thursday prior to the service. Interment will be at the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.