Donald Lamar Loosli

Donald Lamar Looslt was born on November 10, 1915, to Hattie Salisbury and DimondM. Looslim Marysville. He passed away in Salt Lake City on Sunday, July 25, 2010, after a life of service to family and faith.

The youngest of nine children, Donald grew up on a homestead near Ashton where the demanding life of fanning taught him to be a mechanic, handyman, inventor and husbandman. Responsibility came early for Donald and remained a key virtue for him throughout his life. When he was only nine years old, he ran the water wagon for his father's threshing machine and by 15, he and his brother were in charge of running the steam engine and separator.

Donald graduated from Ashton High School, where he was a star athlete, lettering for four years in football, basketball and track, and held the discus throw record for many years. After high school, he played football for the University of Idaho- Southern Branch at Pocatello before leaving to serve an LDS mission in the Northern States Mission.

After his mission, Donald married Eunice Irene Seely of St. Anthony in the Salt Lake City Temple on October 6, 1938. They acquired a farm near Ashton and raised three boys: Stuart Lamar, Dimond Scott, and Richard Todd. During World War II, he moved his family during winters to Los Angeles where he learned die-making skills to assist in the war effort.

Donald possessed an enduring love of building and an intuitive knowledge of how things work and how to fix them guided him throughout his professional life. After leaving the farm in 1949, he went into business with his brother, Herschel, manufacturing specialized farm equipment. He later left farm life and moved his family to Idaho Falls to work at Argonne Labs and Aerojet General researching the use of nuclear energy to generate electrical power at the EBRI facility, the world's first nuclear power plant (now part of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory). He retired from Idaho Steel Products, where he conceived, engineered, and built food processing equipment that made tater tots and waffle fries. This business took him to Nova Scotia, Japan and throughout the Western US.

Donald was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as President of his Kiwanis Club. One of the most memorable chapters in his family's life began in 1956, when they wen to Auckland, New Zealand, to serve an LDS labor mission to help build the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, Church College of New Zealand, and chapels. Here Donald combined his engineering talents with his commitment to his faith. Faith especially sustained him and his family after a construction site accident involving faulty wiring sent hundreds of volts through his heart while he was perched on the steeple tower some 90 feet in the air. Despite this trial, he and his family loved their time in New Zealand and they returned there for a 40-year mission reunion.

Later in life, Donald and Eunice spent their winters in Mesa, AZ, where he enjoyed the camaraderie of the community wood shop. His love of woodworking never waned and you could often find him crafting beautifully turned bowls, pepper grinders and such at his lathe. Even when he was physically unable to use his tools, he took great delight m reading "Fine Woodworking Magazine."

He is preceded in death by his wife Eunice and survived by three sons, 14 grandchildren, and more than 48 great-grandchildren.

A reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 29, 2010, at Brighton Gardens of Salt Lake City, 76 South 500 East, Salt Lake City The funeral service will take place at noon Saturday, July 31, 2010, at the Ashton First Ward, 1313 N 3600 E, Ashton, just north of the Kneview Cemetery. A family visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. Interment will be in the Kneview Cemetery, Ashton.

The family extends thanks to the caregiving staffs of Brighton Gardens of Salt Lake and Silverado Hospice for making Donald's last years comfortable.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to the Perpetual Education Fund at LDS Philanthropies, 15 East South Temple, 2nd Floor East, Salt Lake City, UT 84150, 801.240.5567 or a charity of your choice.

This is part of the July 29, 2010 online edition of The Island Park News.