BLANDING » His children said physician James Redd was a father who could give tours of the Colosseum in Rome from memory, hit a line drive, laugh out loud at one daughter's jokes or praise another's singing.

"It was my job to try and make him laugh, because he had the best laugh," Jericca Redd Tuesday at her father's funeral, attended by some 800 mourners at the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake center in Blanding.

In this town of about 3,200 people, set in the red earth and rolling sagebrush of southeastern Utah, Redd was a linchpin, many said.

"He birthed our babies, did our surgeries and saved our grandkids," said friend and high school classmate Kathleen Lyman, 62.

Redd, 60, and his wife, Jeanne, were among 24 people indicted on June 10 in the theft and sale of American Indian artifacts from the Four Corners area. It was the second time the couple had faced such charges; in 1996, they were charged with raiding a burial site. Jeanne Redd later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and the counts against James Redd were dropped.

The day after the June 10 indictments, Redd's body was found on his property, and authorities have confirmed he took his own life.

"This situation that occurred, my dad, I know he gave his life for his family. I know that," said his son, Jay Redd.

Anger and frustration over the sting operation here largely was put aside Tuesday. Stake President Lemuel Redd put it: "It's not the time or the place to discuss or speculate on civil laws, their right, their wrong, and their enforcement."

Instead, Redd's family painted a picture of a tough man and passionate hunter who loved his five children and had a strong faith in God.

Jeanne Redd described his occasional habit of brushing his teeth with bar soap if he didn't have toothpaste, and once eating porcupine. "I'm so proud of him for both," she said.

Others also were proud.

Navajo Nation Council Rep. Mark Maryboy said Redd was helping him draft legislation to improve American Indian health.

"I just feel like he should have called me and talked to me about it," said Maryboy, a longtime friend. "It's just very unfortunate."