Wendell Collier

Wendell Collier was born in Vernal, Utah on August 13, 1929. He was the youngest of the eight children of James Edwin Collier and Lena May Palmer. He graduated from Uintah High School in 1947. He served a 2½ year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina from 1949 to 1952. He served in the U.S. Army beginning in 1953, and was sent to Korea as part of the postwar peacekeeping effort.

He married Glenna Doris Walker on Valentine's Day 1955 in the Salt Lake Temple. Their 63 years of life together culminated with Glenna's death on December 31, 2017.

He graduated from BYU in Industrial Arts in 1957, and taught for two years at Milford High School. In 1960, he began 29 years of employment in the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation division of Hill Air Force Base, where he soon became Supervisor of Outdoor Recreation, overseeing the operation of a variety of facilities, including the base's sports equipment rental shop, a group of cabins in the Uinta Mountains, and a ski lodge at Snowbasin.

After briefly living in Centerville, Wendell, Glenna & family moved into their home in Fruit Heights, which Wendell designed and built, and they lived there for 41 years. Their large, beautiful vegetable and flower garden was a familiar sight to residents of Fruit Heights and Kaysville driving on Green Road. They moved to Smithfield in 2003.

Wendell loved and excelled at building, fixing, and growing things. He loved the outdoors, especially camping with his family, hiking, and backpacking. He was an avid lifelong learner whose diverse favorite topics included history, geography, and botany. His dedicated church service included being a counselor in a bishopric and many scouting positions.

He is survived by two sisters, Evah Pendleton and Ina May Johnson; by his four children, Kevin (Stacy) Collier, Dellene (Oliver Dan) Lowry, Alena (Jeffrey) Johnson, and Kory (Lisa) Collier; and by twenty grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be held Saturday, May 18th at 11:00 a.m. with a viewing from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. at the chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 24 S Country Lane, Fruit Heights.