Utah deaths of 2022: Politicians and protesters, artists and architects, characters and a cat

A lion of the U.S. Senate. An aviator who used candy to win hearts. A pioneer in women’s skiing. A poet who wrote about his cancer. Architects who left their designs from Snowbird to The Leonardo. An activist who lobbed F-bombs from her wheelchair.

These are some of the noteworthy Utahns, or people who had an impact in Utah, who died during 2022. The Salt Lake Tribune has compiled a list of 56 people, and one ornery cat, who departed this year — but whose contributions are worth remembering.

Gary Amano • The head piano teacher at Utah State University for decades, Amano resigned in 2018 after a sexual harassment investigation found he had created a “hostile work environment for women and discriminated against female students on the basis of gender.” Amano died Dec. 23, 2021, at age 73, in Logan; his death was not reported until after the new year began.

Robert L. Backman • Backman served as a general authority Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1978 to 1992, including seven years in the Presidency of the Seventy. Before being called to serve the church, he was a prominent lawyer and served in the Utah Legislature from 1971 to 1975. Backman died June 3 at age 100 in Murray.

Rebecca Balding • Before retiring to Park City, the redheaded Balding acted in dozens of movies and TV shows — most famously on the sitcom “Soap” in 1980 (as an attorney who seduced Billy Crystal’s gay character, jilted him at the altar, and later fought for custody of their child) and a recurring role from 2002 to 2006 on the witchcraft drama “Charmed” (as editor to Alyssa Milano’s columnist character). Balding died July 18 at age 73 in Park City, from ovarian cancer.

Haven J. Barlow • For 42 years, from 1953 to 1995, Barlow represented Clearfield in the Utah Legislature — four years in the House, 38 in the Senate (including six as Senate president) — making him the longest-serving Utah legislator ever. He was a champion for education funding, technical training and Weber State University. Barlow died Feb. 6 at age 100.

Janette C. Hales Beckham • From 1992 to 1997, Beckham served as general president of the Young Women, the global organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for girls 12 and up. She also was a member of the Utah Legislature from 1988 to 1991 and was on Utah Valley University’s board of trustees from 2004 to 2011, helping navigate the school’s transition from a state college to a university. Beckham died March 4 at age 88 in Provo.

Paul Bingham • An expert on landscape painter Maynard Dixon, Bingham and his wife, Susan, preserved Dixon’s home in Mount Carmel, near Zion National Park, and founded the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts. Bingham died July 7 at age 80 from complications of a blood hematoma.

Merrill Bitter • A driving force in Utah’s climbing community, Bitter established dozens of climbing routes in the Wasatch, was a member of the nonprofit Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, and, as an employee of the Millcreek climbing store IME Utah, sold many people their first rock shoes. Bitter died Jan. 20 at age 68 while backcountry skiing alone in Grizzly Gulch.

Mary Lythgoe Bradford • Bradford was editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought from 1976 to 1982 and the first woman to hold the post, putting her at the center of Mormonism’s intellectual community as it was growing in the 1970s. Bradford died Nov. 8 at age 92 in Provo.

Walter “Lyle” Bradley • Playing most of eight seasons for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (1969-70, then from ‘71 to ‘78), Bradley captained the Eagles to the Central Hockey League championship — the Adams Cup — in 1975. After his playing days (which included six games in the NHL), Bradley became a contractor. Bradley died Aug. 12 at age 79 in Salt Lake City.

Johnny Burt • A longtime volunteer for the Utah High School Activities Association, Burt was a constant presence at high school football and basketball tournaments in Utah for more than 30 years despite a rare and incurable disease, phenylketonuria, that can cause learning disabilities. Burt died Aug. 10 at age 66 from liver failure.

Edward B. Clark • As chief medical officer for Primary Children’s Hospital for more than 20 years, Clark served as a mentor to many physicians, researchers and medical students. He also developed a system to classify congenital heart disease that is used by doctors today and established the first program in the Intermountain West to deliver medical care to transgender children. Clark died March 8 at age 77 in Salt Lake City.

George “Jud” Daniels • The co-founder and lead designer of the architecture firm Edwards & Daniels (now EDA), Daniels helped introduce modernism to Utah buildings, designing such landmarks as the old Salt Lake City Main Library (now The Leonardo), Cottonwood High School and the University of Utah’s Fine Arts and Architecture Complex. Daniels died Jan. 9 at age 94 in Ivins.

Zhifan Dong • An international student from China who loved reading, drawing and dogs, Dong was killed in what police said was a domestic violence homicide in a Salt Lake City motel. Her boyfriend, Haoyu Wang, was charged with her murder, and the case exposed ongoing deficiencies in the way the University of Utah responds to reports of violence against women students. Dong died Feb. 11 at age 19.

Joyce Eliason • The Manti-born Eliason was a 30-year-old divorced mom when she left Salt Lake City for Hollywood, where she became a prolific TV writer — penning the miniseries “The Last Don,” a “Titanic” miniseries in 1996 (a year before James Cameron’s movie), and the Joyce Carol Oates adaptation “We Were the Mulvaneys.” Eliason died Jan. 10 at age 87 in the Los Angeles area after a brief illness.

Arnie Ferrin • A graduate of Ogden High School, Ferrin led the Utah Utes basketball team to the NCAA championship in 1944 (where he was named Most Outstanding Player) and the 1947 NIT championship. He played three years with the Minneapolis Lakers, which won championships in both the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball Association during his time there. He was general manager of the American Basketball Association’s Utah Stars from 1972. to 1974 and athletic director for the University of Utah from 1976 to 1985. Ferrin died Dec. 27 at age 97 after a long illness, his son said.

Blaire Feulner • Feulner founded Park City’s community radio station KPCW in 1980 and was a leading voice there until his sudden departure from the station in 2008. He also was involved in the formation of Salt Lake City’s public radio station KCPW when it launched in 1992. Feulner died Oct. 16 at age 70 in Salt Lake City after a stroke.

Jim Fosgate • A pioneer in audio with numerous patents, Fosgate, who lived in Heber for decades, invented the first car amplifier, the Fosgate Punch EQ, and founded the car-stereo company that became known as Rockford Fosgate. He led the team that created Dolby Pro Logic II, the technology that improved “surround sound”; he won an Emmy for developing the system for television. Fosgate died Dec. 7 at age 85 in Escondido, Calif.

Andrew Gagnon • Gagnon was credited with saving hundreds of lives as a transplant surgeon and was instrumental in growing the transplant services program at Intermountain Healthcare. Gagnon, who lived in Cottonwood Heights, died Feb. 3 at age 38 in a skiing accident at Solitude, sliding off of a 100-foot cliff in “expert-only terrain.”

Wallace Gatrell • The Farmington resident was among the last surviving veterans of World War II in Utah. He explained the secret to being a centenarian was simple: “You wake up one morning after you go to sleep. [Then] you do that for 100 years.” Gatrell died Dec. 13 at age 101 from complications of COVID-19, his daughter said.

Laura Hales • Hales recorded, edited and hosted the podcast “Latter-day Saint Perspectives,” talking to experts about thorny aspects of the history and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and her husband, Brian C. Hales, also wrote the 2015 book “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding,” and she compiled and edited a book of essays on Latter-day Saint thought, “A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS History and Doctrine.” Hales died April 13 at age 54 of pancreatic cancer, at her home in Kaysville.

Gail Halvorsen • A U.S. Air Force pilot during the Berlin airlift after World War II, the Utah-born Halvorsen became a global ambassador for hope when he dropped candy and chewing gum, on tiny parachutes, from his cargo plane to the children of West Berlin when the city was cut off by a Soviet blockade. Halvorsen told the story of his exploits as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” for decades, meeting presidents, world leaders and the grown-up children to whom he showed kindness. Halvorsen died Feb. 16 at age 101 at a hospital in Provo.

Orrin Hatch • The longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history, Hatch was elected to seven terms in the Senate. A staunch conservative, he helped shape the Supreme Court while also striking bipartisan deals on major legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Hatch died April 23 at age 88 in Salt Lake City.

Hestevan Hennessy • Born with cerebral palsy and in need of constant care, Hennessy’s story of chronic pain was a powerful example of the need for medical cannabis in Utah, for which his family became vocal advocates. Hennessy died April 16 at age 27 in Avon.

Dylan Hoffman • A Utah native who switched from studying to be a firefighter to a career in animation, Hoffman became a character technical director in computer animation for Disney and Nickelodeon — most recently building 3D characters to animate in the “SpongeBob SquarePants” spinoff “Kamp Koral.” Hoffman died Feb. 6 at age 33 in a motorcycle crash on the Angeles Crest highway north of Los Angeles.

Kate Holbrook • In 2011, Holbrook became the first person hired by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ History Department to focus specifically on women’s history. She wrote and researched extensively on the Relief Society, Young Women and other topics, emphasizing the role of women in Latter-day Saint life. Holbrook died Aug. 20 at age 50 from cancer.

Jay Hopler • A Salt Lake City-based poet and translator, Hopler saw his first collection of poetry, “Green Squall,” win the 2006 Yale Younger Poets Prize, and his second collection, “The Abridged History of Windfall” (2016), become a finalist for the National Book Award. He started writing his third poetry book, “Still Live,” the day he was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. Hopler died June 15 at age 51, a week after “Still Life” was published.

John Hughes • The former editor led the Deseret News from 1997 to 2007 and oversaw its transition from an afternoon to a morning paper. He previously won a Pulitzer Prize while covering Indonesia for The Christian Science Monitor. He died Dec. 14 at age 92.

Kris Irvin • Irvin became an unintentional icon of Utah’s LGBTQ community, happily chronicling their life as a queer Latter-day Saint on a Twitter account — talking about such moments as going to church wearing a bowtie in the pink-and-blue stripes of the transgender flag. Irvin died Jan. 23 at age 35; their family did not disclose a cause of death.

Psarah Johnson • The self-described “cripplepunk” activist, born with systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis that necessitated the use of an electric wheelchair, advocated for all marginalized Utahns. She demonstrated in support of disabled people, the LGBTQ community, people of color and women — often using her favorite word, the one that starts with ���F.” Johnson died April 29 at age 45, after suffering two strokes, in Salt Lake City.

Ray Kingston • A founding partner of the Salt Lake City architecture firm FFKR, Kingston was the central architect on Abravanel Hall and led the design of nearly every building at Snowbird, including the Cliff Lodge. Kingston died Aug. 2 at age 87 in Salt Lake City.

Angie Kirk • For 35 years, Kirk, with her husband, Kevin, owned and operated The Heavy Metal Shop, Salt Lake City��s iconic record store and performance venue — and she became the metaphorical godmother to the city’s music scene. Kirk died March 5 at age 59 from leukemia.

Steven Leitch • Leitch worked 37 years as a medical photographer for the University of Utah Hospital and the U.’s medical school — where he chronicled such medical breakthroughs as the implanting of the first permanent artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, in 1982. Leitch also wrote poetry and was president of the Utah State Poetry Society. Leitch died Jan. 31 at age 72 from cancer.

Nancy Long • Starting with a century-old flour mill and some land thought to be unsalvageable, Long founded and nurtured Gardner Village, the picturesque West Jordan shopping destination. Long died Nov. 21 at age 82 after battling muscular dystrophy and suffering complications from a stroke.

John H. Morgan Jr. • The longtime president and CEO of Morgan Gas & Oil, “Bud” Morgan and his wife, Daisy, are credited with co-founding the World Senior Games (now called the Huntsman World Senior Games), an international competition for athletes over 50 held annually in St. George. Morgan died Jan. 14 at age 98 in St. George.

Valter Nassi • The garrulous Salt Lake City restaurateur brought high-end Italian cuisine to Utah, first as the chef at Cucina Toscana and later at his own place, Valter’s Osteria — which served everyone from actor Hugh Jackman to basketball coach Gregg Popovich. He also became a meme, thanks to a stern face he made while hosting “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” Nassi died Sept. 20 at age 76 in Salt Lake City.

David “Punk” Olsen • Olsen, an architectural manager for the Salt Lake City architecture firm EDA, gained fame for delivering reviews of B-movies — complete with lists of the best junk food to eat while watching them — under his radio name, “Punk,” on X96′s “Radio From Hell” show from the ‘90s to 2010. Olsen died Feb. 16 at age 51 of liver disease.

Marcos Ortiz • A fixture of TV news in Utah, Ortiz started reporting at KUTV-Channel 2 in 1992, and moved to KTVX-Channel 4 in 2004, mostly covering the crime beat. Ortiz died Nov. 5 at age 68 in Salt Lake City; no cause of death was reported.

Donna Packer • Packer was married to Latter-day Saint apostle Boyd K. Packer for almost 68 years, from 1947 until his death in 2015 — and became known in her own right as a genealogy researcher and school volunteer. Packer died March 5 at age 94 at home.

Kitty Pappas • For nearly 75 years, Pappas operated the iconic Woods Cross steakhouse that bore her name (and husband Johnny’s before 1981), cooking up large slabs of sirloin and baking a variety of cakes for the restaurant’s customers — some of whom were fifth- or sixth-generation patrons. Pappas died July 21 at age 93 at her home behind the restaurant in Woods Cross.

James M. Paramore • A general authority for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1977 to 1998, Paramore also served as secretary to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (working closely with then-President Spencer W. Kimball) and as president of the church’s Franco-Belgian Mission. Paramore died March 17 at age 93 in Salt Lake City.

Allan C. Pedersen • A filmmaker and business partner of the impresario Charles Sellier (“Grizzly Adams”), Pedersen produced such ‘90s films as “Ancient Secrets of the Bible” and “The Incredible Discovery of Noah’s Ark.” Pedersen died March 31 at age 81 in Holladay, of complications from a heart condition.

Ralphael Plescia • A self-taught artist, Plescia spent 50 years creating his idiosyncratic work: A two-story building on Salt Lake City’s State Street, which he called Christian School, filled with sculptures and paintings depicting his interpretation of biblical passages. Plescia died Aug. 14 at age 84 in Salt Lake City.

Pompous Albert • An office cat — a selkirk rex — with frizzy hair and a permanent scowl, Albert became an internet sensation with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and more than 700,000 followers on TikTok. Albert died March 30 at age 14 (approximately) in Salt Lake City; he had survived a bout of thyroid cancer in 2021.

Cory Pulsipher • Pulsipher served 35 years in law enforcement and was elected sheriff of Washington County in 2011, retiring from the post in December 2021. Pulsipher died May 5 at age 56 in St. George after battling pancreatic cancer for two years.

Pamela Redington • For more than 25 years, Redington worked as an administrative assistant and executive assistant for the Utah Shakespeare Festival until her retirement in 2013. Redington died Feb. 5 at age 78 in Cedar City.

Rick Reese • A Salt Lake City native and University of Utah alumnus, Reese was a major force in conservation across the West, co-founding the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Montana, helping establish Utah’s Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and being an early proponent of rock climbing on the Wasatch Front. Reese died Jan. 9 at age 79 at his home in Montana.

Suzy Rytting • Inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1988, Rytting was a champion alpine skier who was on the first U.S. women’s ski team in 1950 and the 1952 U.S. Olympic team — though Olympic officials sent her home from Oslo, Norway, before she competed, when she learned she was pregnant. Rytting died Feb. 28 at age 92 from heart failure after battling dementia for five years.

Ira Sachs Sr. • An enigmatic developer who left Memphis, Tenn., to explore the mountains, Sachs came to Park City and created such properties as The Yarrow Hotel (now the DoubleTree Hilton). Sachs was lionized late in his life when daughter Lynne’s documentary about him, “Film About a Father Who,” premiered at the 2020 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City. Sachs died Oct. 19 at age 85.

Al Schultz • The chief engineer at KSTU Fox 13, for nearly 40 years, Schultz navigated the station from videotape to digital and pioneered the creation of translator stations around Utah. Schultz died Aug. 31 at age 68.

Norman Shumway • A six-term member of Congress representing California’s Central Valley from 1979 to 1991, Shumway retired to Utah, serving on boards at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. Shumway died Nov. 1 at age 88 at his home in Bountiful.

Greg Skedros • Skedros, the son of Greek immigrants, was a successful pharmacist when, in 1977, he opened a Chinese restaurant, The Mandarin, in Bountiful. The restaurant grew to a beloved icon for diners in Davis County and beyond and Skedros was greeting customers only weeks before his death. Skedros died Jan. 27 at age 93.

Robert L. Stott • The deputy district attorney for Salt Lake County for 40 years, Stott prosecuted many high-profile cases, including serial killer Ted Bundy, bomber and forger Mark Hofmann and polygamist patriarch Ervil LeBaron. Stott died March 5 at age 77 in Farmington.

Karl Swan • A longtime high-school teacher in Tooele County, Swan was elected to the Utah Senate in 1970 as a Democrat and served in the Senate for 20 years, speaking up for the state’s underserved people. Swan died March 4 at age 90 in an assisted living facility in Clearfield.

Caleb Swanigan • After a difficult childhood living in Salt Lake City homeless shelters, Swanigan was adopted at 13 by sports agent Roosevelt Barnes and moved to Fort Wayne, Ind. He went on to play basketball for two seasons at Purdue, before becoming a first-round NBA draft pick in 2017, playing 75 games over three seasons with the Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings. Swanigan died June 20 at age 25, the Purdue men’s basketball team announced.

David L. Wilkinson • Utah’s attorney general from 1981 to 1989, Wilkinson touted the state winning a legal battle with the federal government over ownership of Utah Lake, and for overseeing the execution of Pierre Dale Selby, one of the infamous Ogden Hi-Fi killers. Most famously, though, Wilkinson led a failed effort to regulate cable TV and limit “indecent” programming to after midnight — spending $2 million of taxpayers’ money and losing all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Wilkinson died Dec. 10 at age 86 in his Provo home, “peacefully in his sleep,” his family said.

Richard Wood • Wood inherited his parents’ company in Utah, Fernwood Candy and Ice Cream, and built it from a chain of ice cream shops to a full-time candy-making business specializing in holiday treats — most popularly the chocolate mint sandwich, a Christmas tradition for many Utahns. Wood died Nov. 13 at age 95.

Don C. Woodward • Woodward worked as an award-winning journalist at the Deseret News for 39 years, rising to managing editor before his retirement in 2000. Woodward died Sept. 18 at age 86 in Bountiful from prostate cancer aggravated by COVID-19 pneumonia.

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