Emery Wayne Leon Strand

Emery Wayne Leon Strand, son of Einar Harold and Grace McKean Strand, was born December 12, 1951 in San Bernardino, California on his mother's birthday.  She always said he was the best present she ever had and he was blessed from the beginning.  

Emery was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints January 2 1960 by his brother Randy in Bountiful, Utah. The Strands had ten acres on the east bench of Bountiful and Emery and his cousins dug large forts everywhere and played in abandoned cars.  He grew up hunting, fishing, hiking the hills behind his house, traversing the swamps of West Bountiful with his cousins and playing in the barn and sheds (while hiding from Grandpa who thought they should all be working).

Emery graduated from Bountiful High School May 1970 and soon enlisted in the National Guard, SVC Battery, 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery in Ogden Utah. His military occupation was 64C20 Light Truck Driver.  He was honorably discharged June 1, 1976 at the rank of Specialist Four, E-4 after serving six years.

Emery attended Dixie College, Utah State and then finally the University of Utah.  He had a brilliant mind and managed to CLEP out of his first year at the U of U.  He graduated from the University of Utah March 17, 1983 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics.  He also had minors in Communications and Mathematics.

Emery also had a way with women and dated quite a few, but never found "The One" that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.  Emery served wherever he was needed. When his mother had a massive stroke that left her mostly crippled and blind, Emery joined his sisters with the task of getting her back to health and then taking care of her after she came home. He would diligently take her to church each week. When she died in 2003, he was devastated.  He tried to continue going to church, but finally stopped going because he kept getting pressed to give talks and prayers, which because of his extreme shyness he couldn't feel he could do.  He and his sister Kay lived together for twenty years in the family home. Emery was always helping his sisters and was thoughtful to make sure they had things they needed like bottled water and oranges. He helped with repairs and other needs.   

One his favorite hobbies was genealogy.  He could read and translate Old English and Latin from old wills and other.  He went to the genealogy library every week until he could no longer afford to go.  Instead he carried on with online research.  His ability to read the old writing led to a major breakthrough for a line Kay was working on.  Everyone thought the Dutchwoman's name was Jaarsvelt.  Kay finally showed the name as written to Emery and he immediately picked up on the fact it wasn't a Jaar.  It was a Chat.  Chatvelt or otherwise Chatsfield.  Kay found the woman's father was an English soldier in Holland and followed his line back to the 1400s in Chichester England.  Emery even translated a couple of Latin wills for her to prove it all.  The finding was such a breakthrough it was published in the New York Genealogy magazine.  People had been working on it for decades and he solved it in minutes. Some of his last words were instructions on various lines he was working on and where to search for them. 
 
He loved to read and had a Good Reads account that he used a lot. Emery also loved gardening  He was a terrible farmer and his Grandpa McKean would've been appalled over how he haphazardly planted things, but it all seemed to work.  Most of the time when he was out there he was supervised by his best friend in the whole world, Clem Kadiddlehopper, the gimpy legged, half wild cat that had been abandoned by his owners when they moved away.

Clem also shared Emery's food such as donuts, popcorn and anything else he was eating while they watched TV together.  Emery was always complaining that Clem had licked his donut or fries or stuck his head in his popcorn, but he never did anything to stop him.
Unfortunately, Emery's bad eating habits and his fear of doctors finally got to him.  He started having health issues and tried to fix them himself, but wasn't very successful.  It's assumed he suffered a minor stroke in December of 2022 and when he finally went to the doctor he had difficult time lowering Emery's blood pressure.

Finally, the big one hit this past August.  He fell down and couldn't get back up.  At the hospital, it was discovered he had suffered a stroke caused by high blood pressure and a congenital hole in his heart no one knew was there.  

However, while in rehab another devastating tragedy struck.  A major water pipe in the neighbor's yard broke and flooded his basement home with mud and dirty contaminated water.  Emery lost many of his possessions and memories either from the flood waters or from the disarray of where his possessions were quickly put while clean up and rebuilding were being done. What did survive were several filing cabinets of his genealogy paperwork.   It wasn't easy for Diana and Kay to tell him, but he seemed to take it in stride.  However, his motivation in the care center went down the drain with the flood water.  

On the 11th of January Emery passed out in front of the care center nurse and he was taken to Lakeview Hospital and never woke up. On the 12th of January he left his broken body behind and stepped into the loving arms of those who had proceeded him in death, his father, Einar Strand, mother, Grace Mckean Strand, brother, Randall Strand and brother in law, Lanny Tracy. Emery left  behind his four sisters Diana Tracy (Lanny; Deceased), Dixie Heiner (Layne), Amy Strand (Kerry Johnson) and Kay Strand, his Sister in Law Dott Strand (Randall; Deceased),  his nieces and nephews Marti, Heidi, Valarie, Jeremy, Ryan, Brian, Misty and Nathan, 39 grandnieces and nephews and his best friend in the whole world, Clem. He'll be buried next to his namesake, Emery Sargent McKean, his mother's younger brother who was killed at age 18 in an auto train accident in West Bountiful at the Bountiful City Cemetery, 2224 South 200 West, Bountiful, Utah

A viewing will be held at the Russon Mortuary on 295 N. Main St. in Bountiful, Utah on Friday Jan 19th 6:30-7:30 pm.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday Jan 20, 2024  at the Church of Jesus Christ Meeting House, 1930 North 600 West, West Bountiful, Utah, where friends and family may attend a viewing prior to the services from 10:00-10:45 a.m.