Carl Edmund Thornwall

Carl Edmund Thornwall, 88, passed away July 8, 2016 at the Central Utah Veterans Home in Payson. Carl was born June 17, 1928 in Salt Lake City to Carl Sigurd and Margaret Victoria Pehrson Thornwall. After the death of his mother in 1939, Carl was raised by his grandparents, John and Agnes Pehrson. Carl married his sweetheart, Della Dee (Vickie) Elmer, in Salt Lake City on September 15, 1956. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.

Carl was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend, and faithful member of the LDS church. He served his country during the Korean War and later gave 36 years to the US Postal Service.

He was our expert handyman. We loved helping him fix the car, shovel snow, and repair the house. We loved cutting the lawn with him each Saturday, even though it meant doing so twice: once north to south, and again east to west. He knew how to fix everything, and he taught us the value of hard work and the play that follows.

He was our professional outdoorsman. We loved bird-dogging for him on those brisk fall hunts, our faces so proud as we coaxed another quail or pheasant to the air.

He was our master fisherman. We loved those mornings together on the river, when the greatest portion of his time was spent not in filling his creel, but in unknotting our lines and our lives.

He was our virtuoso waterskier. We loved cheering as he finally stepped into the ski after a weekend's worth of pulling his daughters around the lake, and again showed us, even in his eightieth year, what it is to exist just above the water.

We love that he and mom held hands everywhere they went. The night they first met, as they drove together across the Salt Lake valley, they fell in love. Mom knew that they would spend the rest of their lives side by side. She felt like a princess.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to the caring and dedicated staff at the Central Utah Veterans Home. Thank you all for making our Dad's last weeks so special.

We miss our Dad, the joyous whistle on his lips, the sweet song in his heart, the bright dance in his step. He taught us to love music, to make music, and to share music. Harmony was not only his favorite style, but also a profound strategy in a home of six formidable daughters. We will always sing for him.

Carl is survived by his wife, Vickie; daughters, Kathy (Gary) Hensley, Koryl (David) Whittenburg, Connie (Kelly) Haws, Crystal (Randy) Whipple, Kalyn (Howard) Shorthill, and Caryn (Yury) Colton; 23 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren; and sister, Karleen (Roger) Park.

Funeral services will be Wednesday July 13, 11 a.m. at the Park Ward, 1050 E. Galena Dr., Sandy. Viewing will be Tuesday July 12, 6-8 p.m. at Goff Mortuary, 8090 S. State, and again Wednesday at the church from 10-10:45 a.m. Interment, Larkin Sunset Gardens.