Egon Emil Herrmann

Egon Emil Herrmann - husband, father, grandfather, great- and great-great grandfather, friend, builder, genealogist, and pioneer - passed away on 10 September 2024. He was born in Bom Jardim (now Ivoti), Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on 28 July 1926. His father, Jacob Edmund Herrmann, and his mother, Reinilda Röse Herrmann, were German Brazilians. The family moved 13 kilometers south to Hamburgo Velho when Egon was five years old.

It was in Hamburgo Velho that the Herrmanns met the Latter-day Saint missionaries. At this time, the missionaries in Brazil spoke German. The family was taught and baptized on 26 October 1936, one of the first-generation families to be baptized in Brazil. For a time, the missionaries lived in and held meetings in a spacious villa nicknamed the "Mormon Mansion." After being asked to relocate by their mission president, the missionaries held weekly meetings in the Herrmann home. That lasted less than a year due to the neighbors complaining. But the Herrmann family remained active in their small branch despite opposition.

After World War II, Egon met Anilse Jacobi in Novo Hamburgo. They were married in 1947, and they were blessed with two children: Evanir and George. The family moved to Curitiba and rented rooms from the Ordakowski family, also Latter-day Saint pioneers in that city. That is where Egon met Laura Ordakowski, who decades later would become his second wife.

Parents of a former Brazilian missionary sponsored the Herrmann family, and they immigrated to the United States in 1951. They settled in Pocatello, Idaho, and were there from 1951 to 1957. While there, Egon worked for the railroad, the Kraft Cheese factory, and he had his own business. A friend invited Egon to move to Tucson, Arizona, and on his way to Tucson, he stopped in Salt Lake City to visit the Ordakowski family. During that short time in Salt Lake City, he met another former Brazilian missionary, who offered Egon a job as an electrician for the Church's for-profit organization. Egon received his master electrician license in Utah, and he began his job with Zions Securities and worked to change the Eagle Gate Building from DC to AC current. He has lived in Salt Lake City ever since.

In 1961, Egon and his family were called to serve as building missionaries and to return to Brazil to build the meetinghouse located at Santana (a district of São Paulo). Supervising eight to twelve young Brazilian building missionaries, they completed the meetinghouse in 1964. And that building still stands today and is used almost daily by Church members in Santana. 

Upon his return to the United States, Egon continued his work for Zions Securities and was the building engineer, later building manger, of the Kennecott Building. In 1977, he was asked to return to Brazil and help with the construction of the São Paulo Temple, which was a great blessing and privilege for him and his wife. After helping to supervise the installation of the electrical systems in the temple, he and Anilse returned to Salt Lake City, where Egon resumed his work with Zions Securities. He retired in 1988.

In 1980, Anilse was diagnosed with cancer, and Egon lovingly served as her primary caregiver. She died on 13 November 1991.

On 27 November 1993, Egon married Laura Ordakowski, thereby blending two Brazilian pioneer families. Egon moved into Laura's home at 110 J Street in Salt Lake City. And Egon proudly recounts that in 2012 at age 86 he built a scaffolding around the house and painted it despite his near blindness caused by macular degeneration - a hard worker and independent soul to the end! "Consider his age!"

Egon was proceeded in death by his parents, his wife Anilse, and his son George. He is survived by his wife Laura and her children and their spouses/partners LeGrand (Myranda), Baron (Dedra), and Sophia (Robert); his daughter and son-in-law Evanir and Al Johnson; seven grandchildren: Tammy Hanson (Karl), Tino Saiki (Heather), and Tony Saiki, Malcolm deCarvalho, Cameron deCarvalho, Casie Lambert, Haylee Lambert; eight great-grandchildren; and ten great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in the 21st Ward meetinghouse located at 668 Second Ave (2nd Avenue and J Street) Salt Lake City UT 84103, where a family only viewing will be held from 9:45 - 10:45 a.m. prior to services Interment: Salt Lake City Cemetery. 

Services will be streamed live on Russon Mortuary Live Facebook page and this obituary page.

Services will also be streamed via Zoom (https://churchofjesuschrist.zoom.us/j/98793469089?pwd=v8cJHhEf9zC8Of0TYHpqSTZoWxQPiV.1) Meeting ID: 987 9346 9089 Passcode: 807789,