Donald DeMill

Click below to listen to the funeral service. Available until November 28, 2016.

Donald DeMill, 89, the greatest man we know, was granted his wish 8/23/16 as his time on earth came to a close and he slipped quietly away from us into the arms of the Savior who surely greeted this humble man with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”  Waiting for him there since New Year’s Day is our mom Voniel Ivory, the person he called “my bride” and whose hand he held for 66 years.  The parents he honored, Hannah Elsie Nielsen and Edwin DeMill, and the six siblings he greatly loved have waited much longer to see their son and brother again.  Beloved sisters- and brothers-in-law on both his and Mom’s side of our family, as well as his wonderful grandson-in-law, Brian Condie, also preceded Dad in death.

Dad was born in Clarion, Utah July 24, 1927.   When he was 5, the family moved to Manti, Utah where Dad spent the rest of his growing up years and where his heart has always lived. The family’s adobe home was built by grandparents Elias and Malvina Winget DeMill in the 1870s.  His paternal great great grandfather Joseph Knight was a close friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Don respected all of his pioneer ancestors.  His own mother lost her father when she was just 10 and, as second to oldest of seven, she helped her mother who took in washing using creek water, lye soap and open fires.  Hearing these and other stories of his ancestors could easily move Dad to tears.

Don and younger sister Janet were the last of the seven kids and they played as children and were devoted to each other as adults.  Dad made many life-long friends in Manti with the closest being Morris Squire who was there to see Dad’s family drive their horse-pulled wagon into town for the first time in 1932.  Dad’s sweet sister Dorthella and her family lived next door.  Her son Ray was 8 years younger than Dad who sometimes watched over this nephew until loving things for Dad over the years.

As a young boy of 11, Don was thrilled to be invited by his Uncle Milt Anderson (Ray’s Dad) to be cook at the sheep camp.  The time Don spent with the men, sheep, horses, aspen trees, stars, and campfires was golden to him.  It was the basis for his forever love of the Manti-LaSalle Mountains, reservoirs and trails.  When his father died Don was 15 and at the sheep camp.  He had to be driven down the mountain for the funeral and at his mother’s request he didn’t resume that life.  Instead, he and his sister both got jobs and helped their mother.  Dad’s formal education ended then and his classroom became the wide open sky and all it contained.  He was an avid reader his whole life and often was found reading about the Old West, the always favorite Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey novels.  Later a few favorites were “Lonesome Dove,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Seabiscuit,” and “Unbroken,” the story of war hero Louis Zamperini which he read at least three times.

Don was a real cowboy who was paid by many in town to break their wild horses.  He saved money made working at the Sugar Factory and purchased his own horse and later a Ford V-8 when he was barely 15.   Don was 14 when World War II started and he wanted to enlist but was first too young and later his back and other health problems prevented him.  He was proud of brothers and friends who fought.

Attending a dance in Moroni, Utah, Dad met and fell hard for the love of his life, Voniel Ivory, who fell just as hard for him.  They soon married and started their family.  It was a great thing for their children to grow up seeing their happiness.  Dad’s five children and their spouses totally adore him: Sherry (Brent) Waddingham, Terrie (Milan) Buhler, Ted (Susan) DeMill, Jack (Rosann) DeMill, and Troy (Susannah) DeMill.  Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple in 1959. 

Although Dad once told Mom he primarily thought of horses while at work, we know he loved his family most of all.  He loved each child, grandchild and great grandchild from the moment they were born, and every in-law from the moment he met them.  With babies, his face would light up and his work-worn hands were gentle as he held them and looked deep into these precious faces.  His 14 awesome grandchildren and their 9 wonderful spouses are: Heath (Becky) Waddingham, Elisha Condie, Emily Buhler, Alexi (Aleko) Campos, Adam DeMill, David (Natalie) DeMill, John DeMill, Hilary (Eric) Biggart, Derek (Eliza) Holland, Jared (Heather) DeMill, Oliver (Britney) DeMill, Hannah (Patrick) DeVaney, Grace (Nathan) Lisch, and Samuel DeMill.    

These are his 17 great grandchildren who go from less than a month to 16 years old: Connor and Harper Waddingham; Caroline and Eleanor Condie, Jake Buhler, Vincent and Genevieve Campos; Hailey, Nora and Hudson DeMill; Maxine and Jaxon DeMill; Cori and Charlie DeMill, Emmaline and Jeremiah DeVaney, and Julian Lisch.

Dad’s mother- and father-in-law, Faye Blain and Stanley Ivory, thought Dad could do no wrong.  Stan helped Dad get started as a carpenter when Mom and Dad moved to Salt Lake and he spent many winters working outdoors in the warmest clothes he could find.  Don could drive a nail into a board with one stroke.  He worked 56-hour weeks with no paid leave.  Yet every single day when he came through the back door from work he had a smile on his face and we knew the party was about to begin!

As kids, we had wonderful vacations and great gifts for Christmases and birthdays.  Sherry and Terrie went with parents, grandparents, and Mom’s sister Carol and brother Winn to Disneyland the year it opened in 1955.  Mom and Dad made us feel secure and happy with what we had.   We visited Grandma Hannah in the adobe home in Manti many times from 1950 to 1963 before she finally closed the house and moved to Salt Lake.  As young kids, when Dad let us walk to the candy store or up to Manti’s Main Street, he would say, “If you see anyone, tell them you are Don DeMill’s kids.”  We proudly did that because everyone knew and loved Don DeMill.     

In 1973 Dad purchased his family’s historic home from Sanpete County.  During a brief period between jobs in Salt Lake, he remodeled it saving the historic adobe part, tearing off the old and building a new addition to accommodate our growing family.  As the youngest child, Troy often helped with this. While the actual adobe and wiring in the old part of the house might make us a little nervous, the home is a monument to our pioneers and to Dad’s solid and true carpentry skills.

Dad loved sharing his country home and favorite mountain places in and around Sanpete County with children and grandchildren.  Many sweet times were spent at Ferron Reservoir, carving initials in the aspen trees and sometimes spotting old places where Dad had carved “DD” with dates stretching back to his youth.  Everyone loved Dad’s old stories and retelling our own.   Grandchildren appreciate the friendships they share with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that exist because of time spent together in Sanpete.

Dad took care of Arabian horses for his boss and in return was given one of his own he named Lad.  His horse was a great beauty and Dad trained him well.  Lad often made the trips back and forth to Manti in his horse trailer so Dad would ride him with his boyhood friends.  Closer to home Don rode with his son Jack and others.

Dad was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Dad was proud of sons Ted and Troy who fulfilled missions to England and Australia although he missed them a lot while they were gone.  Don held positions in the church but mostly wanted to work quietly in the background. Dad always volunteered in the old days to do carpentry work and thin the sugar beets (volunteering his daughters too) on the Stake Farm.  Later he worked in all divisions of Welfare Square until one day at the age of 84 he realized the apples were moving too quickly for him at the Cannery.  Don did snow removal everywhere—even at the Conference Center when he was quite elderly.  There was never a request for help that Dad could refuse.  When he was aged and needed help himself, he was still raising his hand and agreeing to take on assignments.   Dad both thrilled and dismayed us when he came home from church and told us the latest thing he signed up to do!  He loved his ward family in the Grant Third Ward, later reorganized and called Forestview Ward. 

Dad’s favorite of a long list of jobs he held from the time he was a  kid until well into his 70s was working for oldest son Ted’s company, Interwest Supply, where he helped load trucks which he  drove to nearby states to unload and then return.  People he worked with called him Iron Man because he would leave in the middle of the night, drive long hours to unload and get back just as they were arriving at work.  Don never wasted any time on job sites. 

To know him is to love him.  We will never forget you Dad.  Thanks for being the best listener any of us ever knew.  Thanks for always showing up at our back doors five minutes after we called to ask you for a little help whenever you had time.  Thanks for thinking we were better than we are—for loving us so much.  We know your faith in the Lord never wavered.  Your service to others knew no bounds.    

Dad is survived by all those people mentioned as well as others he loved and laughed with and in whose company he loved to be: sister-in-laws Karen Ivory, Denise Ivory, and Carol Ivory Archuleta along with brother-in-law James Archuleta. 

The family wishes to thank Dr. King Udall for his great kindness and care of Don for many years. We love and thank the entire staff of Sunrise for your tender care of our sweet Dad.   We appreciate the great service of John Wayne Williams and that of Solstice Hospice.  Dad loved his many friends on McClelland Street and we thank them for their love and service to Mom and Dad over the years.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 30, 2016, at 11:00 at the Forestview Ward, 1111 East Charlton (2818 S).  Friends and family are invited to visit Monday evening 6:00-8:00 pm at the Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East, and at the church Tuesday morning 9:30-10:30 am prior to the service.  Burial will be at the Murray City Cemetery. Guestbook to post messages and tributes for the family is available at: www.HolbrookMortuary.com