Gaylon Verl Dallin Obituary (1951 - 2015)

Our hearts are broken as we say goodbye to our husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, son, brother, nephew, cousin, and friend. Gaylon Verl Dallin of Springville, Utah died at home on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 4:00 pm from the ravages of neoplasm metastatic renal cell carcinoma, metastatic to bone, liver and pulmonary (kidney cancer that had spread throughout his body.) Gaylon was born in Payson, Utah on February 26, 1951 to Verl Selby Dallin and Nathalia Beth Fackrell Dallin. He was greeted at home by an older sister Beth Valene. During the first 9 months of his life he was extremely sheltered as his parents tended to the care of his older sister who was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after his birth. She died in October 1951. Gaylon shared that family told him he didn't like riding in the car when he was young and that Valene "saved his life by grabbing onto his nightshirt when he began to roll off the bed." Gaylon welcomed 4 younger siblings into the family, Quinn Selby, Lynnell, Michelle, and Calleen. Gaylon shared memories of the little green house on canyon road where the family lived until he was about 5 years old and his pet goose who was his protector. The family then moved into Springville and lived in the home where his mother resides. He shared that he wasn't able to help prepare the yard for planting grass seed because he had chicken pox and was forced to watch from the front room window. Gaylon shared many happy memories of his growing years with his family and neighborhood friends. Gaylon attended in school at Grant and Lincoln School for Elementary, Springville Junior High School and Springville High School class of 1969. He often told stories about his educational experience and special teachers who taught him. He would tell the kids when they played any type of ball game to be careful not to throw the ball very hard because balls break arms as was his experience during elementary school. During the past number of years he has followed the blog of the class of 1969 and reconnected with some of his classmates. One hot July evening in 1969, Gaylon and a friend was cruising Main and Center Street in Spanish Fork. They drove past an old girlfriend's house and stopped to visit. His friend played match maker and introduced him to Verna Johnson. He asked Verna if she'd like to go the next day for a ride up Hobble Creek Canyon over the loop to Strawberry Reservoir and she said yes. He always said he knew it was love at first sight. Shortly after meeting Verna, Gaylon told his mother he had met his future wife. He proposed in October 1969 and they were married in the St. George Temple on March 17, 1970. They shared this special day with his maternal grandparents, Reddick and Roka Fackrell. Gaylon and Verna looked forward each year on their anniversary to the early morning phone call from Grandpa and Grandma Fackrell exchanging wishes of goodness for their shared wedding anniversary. Gaylon and Verna were blessed as the parents of seven very special children, Chris Gaylon, Amy, Selby Verl, Aliesha, Paul Johnson, Erin, and Verl Gaylon. Gaylon helped teach and instill an ethic of work, honesty, and service in his children. He was a man of few words but was very proud of each child as he watched them graduate from high school, find a mate and marry, and enter into the work force. He looked at each child as successful and loved them in his own way. He also loved those his children chose to marry and always felt they were meant to be part of his family. Michelle, Grant, Rebecca, Brooke, Josh and Brittney each of you were loved in very special ways. He loved the children that each of you brought into your families, now totaling 23 grandchildren (Kinkade, Mackenzie, Thakary, Malakih, Wylee, Garrik, Bryan, Aunika, Austin, Mikelle, KaidenceLyn, Tyler, Jakzen, Haylie, Elizabeth, Bryce, Garvyn, Riley, Mathew, Jeremy, Troy, Emmitt, and Camdyn), 3 in-law grandchildren (Eric, Kirsten, and Mackenzie), and 1 very special great-grandchild (Kinderlyn) with one more expected soon. Gaylon began his employment history working for his Uncle Jay at the original location of Dallin's Storehouse Market in Provo. He then worked for Beesley's Monument and Burial Vault Company for about 3 years where is transported and set burial vaults and memorial grave stone markers in cemeteries around the State of Utah and his last 2 years at Beesley's he built the burial vaults. He worked for Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company in Provo until he was laid off as part of their permanent reduction in force. After almost 3 years of unemployment he obtained a job at the Utah State Hospital where he worked as a Psychiatric Technician and then as a Warehouse Worker for the Federal Foods Program. He was then hired by Springville City Corporation working in the Electrical Department and Water Works Department. Gaylon retired with 30 years of service from Springville City in March 2014. Gaylon worked at the city to support his family but his true passion was archery. He started his own archery business, Spring Creek Archery, in January 1990. He met many wonderful people who shared his interest in archery. He also taught archery lessons through Springville Community Education at Springville High School underground track. He also set up an archery range in the field behind our house with permission from a neighbor. He closed Spring Creek Archery in 2009. Gaylon loved the outdoors. He looked forward to summer when he could take the family camping. He would make any excuse he could to find himself in the mountains. He took his oldest son fishing up Hobble Creek when Chris was just a few weeks old. He was excited to have a son and wanted to share his love of nature with him. He enjoyed taking his sons and teaching them hunting practices. As they grew and began hunting on their own, he was always excited to hear about their hunting stories, near misses and successes. Gaylon looked forward to August each year and spent early spring and throughout the summer preparing for the annual archery hunt. He would travel to Skyline to scout deer and elk, place salt licks in prime locations and ride the roads on his 4-wheeler. If anyone needed him they usually knew where to look. He would begin moving to Skyline about 7 to10 days before the hunt began to set up the perfect deer camp. He had several favorite camping places. After the archery hunt closed it would take him several days to break down camp and move back home. This was a ritual that even Verna began to look forward too as Gaylon left to spend a month in the mountains. The rule was that Gaylon had to make contact each day so she would know that he was okay. She just doesn't know how to connect to the airwaves of heaven to continue that rule. Gaylon's deer camp was quite the camp. His trailer was positioned in just the right place in the maximum amount of shade. He had a fueling station with an actual gravity fed gas tank and a laundry center for washing his clothes. When he first started washing his laundry at camp, he used scrubbing board and large galvanized tubs for washing and rinsing. A couple of years ago he purchased a small electric washing machine that he plugged into a generator. He'd share that his washing machine could wash 2 pair of jeans and then he could hang them to dry. He would complain if the fall was rainy because his clothes would take days to dry. Gaylon enjoyed spending time with his father as they both aged. Some of his fondest camping trips were spent with his 80 something year old father. He talked often about his father spotting a deer among the trees and Gaylon being able to harvest the deer with his bow. Gaylon has the deer mounted and hanging in his archery shop. Under the mounting is the saying "Dad saw it. I shot it." He was amazed that his father got so excited because his father wasn't a hunter. Gaylon took many pictures of his father in his deer camp and cherished each one. Gaylon was always on the move. He began walking to work a number of years ago to help keep himself in physical condition in preparation for his month long venture in the mountains. He lost a lot of weight in the process. He could rarely just sit and wait as proven in January 2013 when rather than waiting patiently for Verna to get home so they could go do some errands, he climbed a ladder to scrape the snow and built up ice from the roof of the house. Unfortunately, the ladder slipped on the icy walk and he tumbled to the cement. Verna found him lying in a heap, knocked unconscious with a bleeding head. EMS was called and he was transported to UVRMC. He spent a week in the hospital so his body could begin healing from a broken pelvis and a closed head injury. When he was ready to be released from the hospital, his care was more than anyone could handle and he was required to stay at Orem Care Center as his bones continued to mend. He and Verna outlined milestones he needed to meet before his care could be managed at home. He worked hard and pushed himself, surprising the medical care team of his progress. He was released home after 3 weeks. One of his granddaughter's exclaimed several months later that maybe we should have dropped grandpa on his head earlier because he wasn't so ornery. He appreciated life in his own way and saw things from a different perspective. This past spring was very difficult for him as he complained about the loss of energy and inability to breathe. These deficits came upon him gradually until his cough developed in April and soon became almost constant. He acknowledged his decline on Memorial Day when he returned from a day trip to the mountains. He was coughing hard and shared that he was very winded and weak. He could barely make the walk from the truck to the house. He had to rest for a while before unpacking and cleaning up. His cough continued but being the stubborn man that he was he kept telling himself that it would get better. One Friday late afternoon in early June Verna was at work in Heber, he called describing how he was feeling and felt he needed medical attention. He refused to call for help from anyone and asked that she hurry home that he would be okay until she arrived. He was at UVRMC about an hour later thinking he was having a stroke. Stroke was ruled out but medical caregivers were concerned about his cough. A chest x-ray was taken, followed by a CT scan and a referral to a pulmonologist. At the visit with the pulmonologist he was referred for a biopsy of his lymph nodes, from there a confirmation of cancer was made and a referral to an oncologist. The physician explored all the treatment options with Gaylon but he felt strongly against them fearing the treatment would only prolong his suffering. Gaylon went about preparing for death as he lived his life. He had to put things in order. He taught Verna several things that he felt would help her manage life without him. He gave instructions about where to find things or who to call. He counseled his children with words of wisdom. He approach death in a very orderly fashion as bravely as possible when facing the unknown. Gaylon loved his mother and worried about her especially since the death of his father in October 2014. They had a special bond known only to mother and son. He was concerned that he would not be there for her. He did get comfort when his siblings reassured him they would fill the space he was creating and take care of their mother. He loved his siblings very much. Mom was one of the last people who visited on Wednesday. After her visit and comforting words, Verna noticed his body relax as he went into a restful sleep. Gaylon was a man of few words. He often shared how much he loved each and every child in our family and worried that they didn't know. Verna, as his wife, their mother and grandmother, knew how much he loved each one and how much he appreciated everything they did for him. It was a comfort to him to know how much they each loved him. Gaylon is survived by his wife, Verna Johnson Dallin. Seven children: Chris Gaylon Dallin (Michelle) of Orem, Amy Dallin Minson (Grant) of Spanish Fork, Selby Verl Dallin (Rebecca) of Orem, Aliesha Dallin Vanpatten of Springville, Paul Johnson Dallin (Brooke) of Lake Shore, Erin Dallin Bowers (Josh) of Springville, and Verl Gaylon Dallin (Brittney) of Spanish Fork, 23 grandchildren,1 great-granddaughter and another one on the way. Siblings: Quinn Selby Dallin (Hannah) of Springville, Lynnell Dallin Weatherson (Bruce) of Roosevelt, Michelle Dallin Hancock (Dave) of West Point and Calleen Dallin Golding (Kevin) of Salem and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father, Verl Selby Dallin, a sister, Beth Valene Dallin, maternal and paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, and several cousins. The family would like to express thanks to CNS Hospice Care, especially Lois and Matt, for their care and support. Friends may call at Springville Spring Creek LDS 2nd Ward Building 350 North 400 East, Springville, Sunday July 26, 2015 from 6 to 8 pm and to services from Monday July 27, 2015 from 9:30 to 10:45 am. Funeral service will be held Monday July 27, 2015 at 11 am at Springville Spring Creek 2nd Ward LDS Chapel, 350 East 400 North, Springville, Utah. Interment will be at the Spanish Fork Cemetery.