My grandpa's passing

Not sure what to title this post...

My mom's dad, Keith Garner, passed away due to complications from a stroke on the 28th of April. I was blessed by friends (employed by American Airlines) to get a quick, cheap flight to UT for the Viewing held last Tuesday, May 1st.

My cousin, Sheri Dalton, her mom (my aunt) Gayle Schenk, my uncle Kent Garner, my grandmother Marilynn Garner, my mom, Lynne Godfrey, and me

 My step-dad, Woody, my mom and her mom

There was a Viewing the night before these photos were taken; many, many people who knew him as their Bishop or Seminary teacher in the 1950s-60s came! Many who were missionaries while he presided over the Far East Mission came...I was touched by how much he meant to them, as did my grandma. They held her hands tightly and told her they loved she and my grandpa. I was honored to be there that night and see and hear those voices of gratitude.

 My grandpa owns a Mausoleum and funeral home. Here is where I had my first job as a freshman at East High school in Salt Lake City, UT. I covered the Sales Office as secretary while his F/T secretary was out for a prolonged medical absence. I hung out with the strangest crew of sales people: a flirty roller-skating 24 year old, a distant cousin/uncle who used to come up and scare me while I vacuumed the long halls inside the Mausoleum; a 20-something single guy named Brett that kissed me once on the lips, a lady named Blue, who lives in my memory as a gypsy or Vegas card dealer, a nice LDS guy named Shad (related to Kent Allen, my former step-dad), and then the head of Sales Dept, Nic Salvucci, who might have been related to a small town mafia, with his white pants (that illuminated his brightly colored boxers) and low buttoned shirts and yes, he had an accent--I don't know if it was Chicago or New Jersey...

Needless to say, I loved working there after school! I got my very close friend, Jeanne, a job as receptionist and we handled calls and couples who came in to "take a tour of 'Pre-Need Plans' and receive a free gift" which was either a set of sharp knives or a tiny TV/alarm clock/radio...I still have mine and it is from 1982...it still works although the TV screen is 1 inch by 1 1/2 inches small. Clearly, we don't watch TV on it, but it wakes us up every morning.

 These are the outdoor crypts (since the Mausoleum is almost 100 years old and thus, full of folks) where he and his  relatives are buried. It is nestled in the mountains just to the north of Salt Lake City, not far from Temple Square.

On a side note, during high school, since I had a key (I continued to work there for some years, even just to lock up or clean up), I dared some boys I knew to come up one dark, rainy night to "the Maus"...I did not turn on any lights...We entered the foyer and I dared them to run down one of  the LOOONG hallways (lined with crypts), touch the last one, and then run back. They got so freaked out, they only made it a short distance, I heard a curse word, and they came running back.

Here is a classic photo of my grandpa, who worked full time up until he was about 90 years old. No joke. He did. He loved to be busy, to work deals, to build and beautify; he loved to study the scriptures and wrote about them and had his biography published.

I imagine him in some huge meeting in heaven, talking with people from all over the world that he knew, from Asia (as mission president in 1960s), from his home stake in Menlo Park, CA, and with lots of prophets, modern and ancient.

God be with you til we meet again.