Vernal Wynn Thompson

Vernal Wynn Thompson passed away on July 8, 2015 of natural causes after an extended illness requiring multiple surgeries and hospital admissions. He was the son of Newel Rendell Thompson and Amy Heggie Griffiths Thompson and was born on November 7, 1921 in Clarkston, Utah. He attended North Cache High School and worked for the Union Pacific railroad for several years after high school in communications. He served in the navy during WWII in the Pacific Theater on the USS Marsh where he was a communications specialist from 1944 to 1946. After the war, he completed an LDS mission in the Gulf States Mission from 1946 to 1948. He graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1953. After graduating, he spent two years in Borneo and Sumatra, Indonesia, working for Carter Oil as a geophysicist on a prospecting team. Shortly after returning to the states, he began working as an engineer in missile defense and antenna communications, at Hill Field and Sperry/Unisys (now L3) where he eventually retired in 1986.  He married Edith Young on May 1, 1957 in the Salt Lake Temple. She preceded him in death in 2008. They raised four sons together in Bountiful, Utah, where they lived among wonderful neighbors and friends. He was a scoutmaster and Explorer leader in his ward and later served in the bishopric of the Val Verda III ward for eight years. He was an active member of the High Priests Quorum in whatever ward he lived in. He loved to garden and work on cars and kept a fleet of old cars running long past their usual useful life. He remained active nearly to the end, living independently, doing genealogy work and driving himself three times a week to the Bountiful Recreation Center to work out. More than anything else, he loved being a grandfather to his twelve grandchildren and great-granddaughter.
He is survived by his sons, Clifton W., J. Spencer (Brian L. Becker), James F. (Kimberly J.) and Jerald Y. (Cherie C.) Thompson; sisters Kathy T. Jones and Jeannine T. Hendricks and Brother Jess G. Thompson; grandchildren William, David, Benjamin, Amy, Mary, Hannah, Alayna, Gabriel, Jacob, Adam and Kaylie and great-grandaughter Claire. He is preceded in death by his wife, Edith; brothers Norman, Dennis, William, Jack, and Collins; sisters Joan, Lemoyne and Lola; and baby grandson Matthew.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 11 in the Val Verda Stake Center at 2651 South 500 West in Bountiful, Utah. Friends and family may visit July 10, between 6-8 pm at Russon Brothers Mortuary, 295 North Main Street, Bountiful, Utah and again at the Val Verda Stake Center on Saturday between 11:30 am – 12:30 pm. Interment – Bountiful City Cemetery. Special thanks to the staff at CareSource Hospice for the exceptional care dad received in his last days. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Primary Children’s Hospital.