Rest In Peace

L. Clair Dearden passed away on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 after a brief battle with cancer. Clair was born July 2, 1930 in Henefer, Utah to Clarence Lehi and Marguerite Ann Lottier Dearden.

He is survived by his wife Ann, his sister Grace Cowles, his 5 children and their spouses, Susan Naylor (Lance), Thomas Dearden (Jana), Daniel Dearden (Vivian), Lisa Trepanier (Patrick) and Lori Mulvey (Stephen), his 2 stepchildren and their spouses, Tony Holden (Adriene) and Heidi Noack (Drew); 27 grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren (with 2 more on the way). He is preceded in death by his parents and his stepdaughter, Tammy White.

Clair was raised in Ogden and graduated from Ogden High School. He joined the Navy and served as an electronics engineer in the Korean War from 1950-1954, achieving the rank of Petty Officer First Class. In 1951, he married Lou Jean Newey with whom he had Sue, Tom, and Dan. After leaving the Navy, he attended Weber Junior College (now Weber State University) and then graduated with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Utah. Throughout his engineering career he worked in Utah, California, New York, Louisiana, Canada, Colombia, Egypt and Israel. In 1966, he married Irene Elizabeth Abney with whom he had Lisa and Lori. In 1990, he married Sara Ann Simmons. Some of the highlights of his later life were serving with Ann as an LDS missionary in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 2002-2004, an usher in the LDS Conference Center, a temple worker in the Ogden Temple, and a volunteer at McKay-Dee Hospital since 1997.

Clair is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in many callings throughout his lifetime. He enjoyed camping, hiking, hunting, racquetball, reading Church history, Sudoku, gardening, raising little critters, and home improvement projects. Clair died with his moustache intact; we'll see what St. Peter says about it at the pearly gates.