Terry Don Broadhead

Terry Don Broadhead

December 7, 1950 – June 20, 2024

Terry Don Broadhead was born December 7, 1950 in Provo, Utah to Joseph Don Broadhead and Joyce LeeMaster Broadhead. He grew up in Provo, Orem and Springville, Utah and briefly in Seattle, Washington. He lived in and graduated from High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He married Bobette Nadine Green December 29, 1982 in Ogden, Utah. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Los Angeles Temple. He was the father of five; Marie-Claude Broadhead Van Weerd (Arnold Van Weerd) with first wife Françoise N.C. Menneboo. Janna Broadhead Downs (Shayne Downs), Sara Broadhead Neumeyer (Shawn Neumeyer), Brian Broadhead (Jayme Secrest) and Joseph Grant Broadhead (Amanda Williams).

He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served an honorable two-year mission in French Polynesia (Tahiti and surrounding islands). This is where he discovered his ability to learn and love foreign languages. He had a great love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and an unshakable testimony of the Gospel. He served in many leadership callings in the church and was pivotal in working with church leaders to get the first branch in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (West Africa) organized and running, and the land dedicated for missionary work during his stay there with his family from 1986-1990. 

Terry was a lifelong student and scholar. He often spoke of being a “curious kid” from as far back as he could remember, and always wanted to “know how the world worked, how things worked and what made people tick.” He graduated from The University of Maryland with a B.A. degree in Psychology and later from Weber State University with a dual B.A. degree in French and Spanish. It was common to see Dad reading two to three books simultaneously, each located in different rooms. You would also often find him having deep intellectual conversations with friends and family about his newfound knowledge as he was a firm believer in sharing what he learned with others. He loved sharing ideas, trivia and researching new information. He had a deep love and knowledge of the scriptures and enjoyed deep spiritual discussions. 

During the time he was on his mission he caught the “travel bug” and decided he wanted to see the world. He was drafted in 1972 during the Viet Nam war and got the last slot in a tank unit in the Army National Guard, keeping him from having to go to Asia at the time when the war was deescalating. Heavenly Father had plans for Terry. He later enlisted in the Air Force in 1974 and went to Technical Training School at Shepherd AFB (Wichita Falls, TX) where he became a mechanic on fighter jets and learned that he was expecting his first child with Françoise. He moved on to Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) where he worked on the F4E fighters. Marie-Claude was born at Wilford Hall, Lackland AFB (San Antonio, TX). He was stationed at Rammstein AFB, Germany 1976-1979. This is where he realized he wanted to get into intelligence work, a goal he would later accomplish. He worked on the very first F-16 built when he was stationed at Hill A.F.B. (Clearfield, UT) soon after returning from Rammstein. He received orders for a one-year remote tour assignment at Kunsan, AFB (South Korea) six months after marrying his beloved wife, Bobbie December 29, 1982. Marie stayed with her while he was away. As they say in the military, “If the military wanted you to have a wife and family, they would have issued you one.” 

Once he returned from South Korea, he was assigned to George A.F.B. (Apple Valley, CA). It was here that his dream of getting into intelligence work came to fruition. Terry and Bobbie traveled to Fort Belvoir, Virginia and were interviewed for a special duty assignment in the Defense Attaché System (part of the Defense Intelligence Agency.) They were offered an assignment to the Defense Attaché Office at the American Embassy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in West Africa. While in Apple Valley, Terry was called as a translator of French genealogical documents on microfiche; a calling he thoroughly enjoyed. Terry, Bobbie and Marie left George AFB in August 1985. During training for the USDAO (at Bolling AFB Virginia), Terry and Bobbie learned that Janna was on the way. Dad was not able to attend her birth as he had no choice but to go ahead of his family to Abidjan in 1986. Bobbie delivered Janna at Balboa Naval Hospital (San Diego, CA) as a brave military wife with the support of Terry’s family, as her doctor would not clear her for international travel at the time Terry had to report for duty. Two months later he returned to gather his family and off they went on their four-year African adventure. 

During that time Terry balanced his duties to God, family, and country. He traveled all over West Africa and as far in other directions in Africa as Morocco and Chad; all while diligently executing his duties as the first President of the newly organized church branch in the country. Sara and Brian were both born in country during this tour of duty. His next military assignment was in Caracas, Venezuela (South America). After a few short months of Spanish language training, they flew off to yet another adventure…the night after President George Bush announced the start of Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. While stationed in Venezuela he traveled to the border of Columbia, Peru for one month and nearby islands to Venezuela. He was in country during two coup d’états and was nearly evacuated with his family and other embassy families during the second one due to the rapid destabilization of the country. He served diligently in several church callings in the bishopric and as ward mission leader. 

In December 1993 it was time to head back to the States and he retired from the U.S. Air Force summer of 1994 as a MSgt. after twenty years of service. The plan was to retire in Arizona, yet the Lord had other plans for him again, and he had a last-minute change in orders taking him back to Hill AFB, his roots and to help his aging parents. He expressed a desire to give back after having been blessed with knowledge, foreign language proficiency, travel and many adventures abroad. He returned to Weber State University and became a high school foreign language teacher, wanting to enlighten young minds and share his appreciation of the languages and cultures he knew and loved. Terry and Bobbie knew that they had another child still waiting to join our family and Grant joined the Broadhead clan April of 1996. He taught French, Spanish, Psychology (briefly) and received certification to teach ESL. He moved to Price, Utah and taught at Carbon High, then settled down and grew roots in Spanish Fork, Utah. He continued his teaching career at Springville High where he retired after a total of eleven years. His students grew to love him and his war stories starting with “And there I was…” all in French and Spanish of course. 

Terry loved his family, and it didn’t matter how busy he was with his various work and church commitments; he always had creative ways of making his wife, children and grandchildren a priority and letting them know how truly loved they were. Date nights with his wife, family Splorin’ day trips, daddy-daughter dates, “projects” with his sons and sons-in-law, family ball games, picnics, etc. 

Retirement allowed Dad to thoroughly enjoy camping, fishing, trips to the desert, rock hounding, reading, family time, Bees baseball games, trips to California, Texas and Michigan to visit his kids and grandchildren after they moved away, reading, spending time with his “gizmos” (grandkids), church callings, road trips to Glenwood Springs, Lava Hot Springs, Crystal Hot Springs, shooting his guns and touching and enlightening countless lives along the way in too many ways to fully describe. He shared the gospel with others in word and deed through his entire life and entertained everyone who held him dear with his general “irreverent” humor, intellect, beautiful singing voice, piano and guitar playing, love of music, poetry, the gospel, Heavenly Father, our Savior and selfless service. 

Terry was preceded in death by his parents Joseph Don and Joyce Leemaster Broadhead. He is survived by his sister Vicki Broadhead Coombs, his brothers Micheal and Stuart Broadhead, his children, grandchildren and great grandson. 

Famous Dad Quotes

“Doo dah, doo dah…” ~Foghorn Leghorn~

“And so it goes…” ~Kurt Vonnegut Jr.~

“What is your major malfunction!?” ~ U.S. Military~

“Stop your grabassing back there!” ~Dad original~

“I can’t tell you, ha, ha, ha!” ~Dad original~

“Do I look like a walking encyclopedia to you?” ~Dad original~

“Do I look like the Answer Man?” ~ Dad original~

“You ain’t never had a friend like me….! ~Genie (Aladdin)~

“There was this kid that went to the doctor and said, Doc, it hurts when I go like this! …” ~Dad original~

“I have my Murphy’s Law books up there right next to my scriptures. They are both equally true.” ~Dad original”

“Look it up on Instainfo…” ~Dad original~

“Will you make a gooey (asking for a homemade treat)?” ~Dad Original~

“I buy, you fly.” ~ Dad original~ 

Please join us for a Celebration of Life for Terry

Date: Monday June 24, 2024 at 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Location: Palmyra Stake Center, 505 East 900 North in Spanish Fork, UT 84660

To leave condolences, visit www.legacyfunerals.com