Scott Trump

Scott Robert Trump passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his wife and children on June 15, 2020, after bravely battling ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, which also took the life of his father 13 years ago. Scott was born on July 31, 1975, in Bountiful, Utah, to Ronald Robert Trump and Nancy Louise Price Trump. He was the 5th of 8 children. Scott grew up working construction with his dad and brothers in the Island View family business. He was especially skilled at framing and concrete work. He loved working in every type of weather and was up with the sun and never quit until long after it had gone down. Scott started driving a backhoe and other heavy equipment when he was about 8 years old. He became so skilled at operating a backhoe that it simply became an extension of his arm. Watching him work was captivating. Scott wasn’t particularly fond of school when he was growing up, but he learned to work hard and put everything he had into work…even though he found time to get into just enough mischief as a teenager to later have plenty of stories to keep his kids laughing at night. He also was very interested in mechanics and bought an old ’52 Chevy pickup when he was a teenager and turned it into what he called a “ratrod.” Scott was always sincere in his efforts…if he was going to do anything, he wanted to do it with real intent. So he was 20 before he chose to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to the Richmond, Virginia, mission and spent 2 years giving his all serving and teaching others about the Savior, Jesus Christ. In addition to teaching the gospel and studying and memorizing literally chapters of scriptures at a time, he also rebuilt an engine and did some framing as part of his mission’s “Ammon Model” service program. When Scott returned home from his mission, he had determined not to date for 3 years. But one week after his Homecoming, he met Susan Ralph and decided waiting to date wasn’t such a good idea after all. He let Susan drive his hotrod on their first date-which completely shocked his brother-and 3 months and 5 days later, September 20, 1997, Scott and Susan were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple. Scott continued to work for his dad building homes in Davis County, Utah, during their first 6 years of marriage, but after building their own dream home, he and Susan were prompted to sell their home for Scott to get an education. So with their two sweet little girls and a 3rd child on the way, they headed to BYU-Idaho for Scott to get his mechanical engineering degree. However, before Scott was even accepted to the school, he had almost finished building their Rexburg home (in super windy sub-zero weather) and their first son was born. Thankfully, the acceptance letter finally arrived, and Scott worked quickly and intensely to finish his bachelor’s degree in 2 ½ years and graduate cum laude in his class. The last 8 months of school was pretty intense with the birth of their 2nd son and the death of Scott’s father. After returning to Utah with his young family, Scott began building their 3rd home, and not long after was blessed to be hired as a Design Engineer for FLSmidth, an international mining company. It didn’t take long for Scott’s employer to recognize his great potential, so Scott was quickly given greater responsibilities and assignments and soon became a senior engineer and then a chief engineer within just a few years of being hired.
During that time he also worked to receive his professional engineering license. He enjoyed digging into challenging projects, associating with wonderful co-workers and inspiring mentors, and meeting people from all over the world during his work travels. He made friends in China, Africa, Mongolia, Germany, Australia, England, Portugal, Canada, Cyprus, Peru, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, and Nevada. His children were always delighted with the stories and souvenirs he’d bring home each time. But travelling so much became difficult for Scott and his family, and he also found his position required he spend more time managing people than projects. So after more than 9 years with FLSmidth, and with his strong desire to spend more time with his family and also be more fully engaged in working through challenging projects without the added responsibility of management, he accepted a position with Orbital ATK, fully intending to spend several years with the company. However, not too many months later, he was given the opportunity to completely eliminate his commute and help design and engineer some fun and interesting equipment-MuddTrax and SnowTrax-for Delve, International. Then within a couple of years, Scott’s former employer-FLSmidth-reached out to him unexpectedly and asked him to return to the company as an Engineer IV, which meant he wouldn’t need to travel and could dig into challenging projects without management responsibilities. The offer was timely and literally heaven-sent with all that was yet to unfold in Scott’s life within the next few years. Throughout all of the years that Scott was growing in his engineering profession and discovering a variety of engineering opportunities, his family was growing as well, and together they built two more homes (within the same ward boundaries). After Scott and Susan had built their 4th house, they had thought they were finished with the building and selling process, but after receiving a prompting while attending the Salt Lake Temple together, Scott and Susan set out to build their 5th and final home. This time they literally did it all together with their 4 kids, with Scott instructing them all along the way…from raising the foundation of the lot to framing to finish carpentry to tiling to siding to landscaping. Scott took every opportunity he ever had to teach his kids everything he knew-whether it had to do with engineering, math, physics, building ANYTHING, or-most especially-the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wanted them to learn to work hard, to make good use of their time, and to learn to love and rely upon the Savior. Scott was absolutely the best dad ever. He played hard with his kids and knew how to have fun. He always figured out a way to add a little excitement to each adventure and enjoyed laughing and playing tag with his kids. Scott loved Susan with all of his heart and let her know that every second of every day. His children had no doubt as to how he felt about their mother. He adored her and treated her with great love and respect from the moment he first met her. Their beautiful marriage was filled with magic, friendship, and a deep, abiding love. They tackled their many challenges together with faith in the Lord. Scott loved to do projects with Susan and the kids, and besides building big things like houses, he enjoyed sharing his hobby of building RC cars with them. He loved to take the family camping, even if by the end it was just in his backyard. He knew how to work hard and never, ever quit. Literally. He could build or design anything and would work through the night and through any type of weather to complete a project. The same drive and staying power applied to gospel study as well. He loved the Lord and spent time every day studying the scriptures and the words of the prophets to strengthen his testimony and strengthen his family.
Scott had many opportunities to serve in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout his life. Some of his callings included assistant ward executive secretary, primary teacher, scout leader, young men’s leader, counselor in the Elder’s Quorum presidency, Elder’s Quorum President, counselor in the bishopric, and most recently as a ward greeter. Scott also had the beautiful opportunity of serving as an ordinance worker in the Bountiful Temple with Susan and his daughter Olivia for 6 months. Scott cared about people and wanted the best for them. He was a true friend to so many and was always quick to reach out to those who needed love or a helping hand. He was deeply grateful for his many friends and associates and expressed that gratitude frequently. He dearly loved his sweet mother and wonderful siblings. Scott handled his ALS diagnosis with grace and faith. He was at peace with God’s will and continued to make good use of his time in the 10 months since his diagnosis. Although the disease rapidly stripped from him his incredible strength and ability to do quickly and perfectly so much of what he loved-with the help of his son Ivan, good cousins, family, and friends, he was able to finish building his ’49 Chevy Hotrod, enjoy one final car rally adventure in the mountains with Olivia’s sacrificed car, and with the help of his wife and children, extended family, friends, ward members, and co-workers, he also transformed his huge property into a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary complete with a walking/biking trail and base camp for his family. Even as his physical strength declined, his heart only grew stronger. His ability to love, inspire, keep us laughing, and endure to the end strengthened all who had the privilege of knowing him. Scott is survived by his wife, Susan, four children, Olivia, Eliza, Ammon, and Ivan, his mother, Nancy Trump, siblings, Kim (David) Thompson, Kerri (Jon) Erickson, Kristin (Michael) Childs, Stephen (Louise) Trump, Shane (Elizabeth) Trump, Bradley (Lacey) Trump, and Bryan (Erin) Trump, and many brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends. Scott’s greatest desire was to be a true disciple of Christ and to help others come to know Him. Scott will be deeply missed by his family and friends, but we know he is happy and completely free of suffering and able to serve God with all of his heart. And we know we will be together again. Friends and family may visit Friday, June 19, 2020, between 6 and 8 pm at Russon Brothers Mortuary at 295 North Main in Bountiful, Utah. Private family funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 20, 2020, at Russon Mortuary, with interment at Centerville Cemetery. The funeral service will be broadcast Saturday at 1:00 p.m. via Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/russonmortuary.