1944 6-29 Arline Kunz Funeral Services

Funeral Services for Arline Kunz

June 29, 1944

Conducted by Bishop Walton

We will commence these services this afternoon in honor and tribute of

Sister Arline Kunz by the choir singing “Oh, My Father,”
after which the invocation will be offered by Brother Radcliff Henrie.
The choir will then sing “That Beautiful Land.”

Invocation–Radcliff Henrie

    Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  We have met here this afternoon, our Father, to pay our respects to one of Thy handmaidens who has departed this life and to her family.  We pray Thee, our Father in Heaven, while we are thus assembled here this afternoon that Thou will let our minds be attuned to Thee, that Thy spirit will be with us.  We pray that which may take place here today will be for the comfort and good of those who have met here.  Bless those who will take part on the program, that Thy spirit will help and guide them.  Help us all from time to time, that we may live with an eye to Thy glory, that we may eventually gain eternal life and salvation.

    We pray Thee that Thou will look down upon those bereaved this day–her family, her relatives, her friends, and this community, for we realize we will miss Arlene very much.  Bless the family that they will realize all good gifts come from Thee, and it is Yours to give and take back.  Be with us while we humbly wait before Thee and all during our coming life.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Bishop Walton

Our program as prepared by the members of the family of
Sister Arlene will go forth as follows:

 
    A tribute by Sister Cowley-this comes from one of the study groups of which Arlene was a member.
    She will be followed by Brother Clarence Knowles, an uncle of Arlene’s.
    Following him will be a duet by Sister Fredonna Dixon and Brother Mervin Christensen, “Beautiful Home”
    Brother Clifton Kerr will be the next speaker, and
    The closing remarks will be myself
    The choir will then sing “God Be With You ‘til We Meet Again”
    The benediction will be given by Brother Floyd Stohl

Mrs. Cowley

    I have been asked to give a tribute to Arlene from the girls who were associated with her in a little sewing and social club.  We are glad for this opportunity to express our love for Arlene and our appreciation for the privilege we have had to associate with one so sweet, so gentle, and so friendly as Arlene.

    I have no flowery phrases.  I want only to tell you simply and sincerely that we loved Arlene.  We enjoyed her company.  We liked to tell her our problems, and listen to hers, for in her we knew we had a true friend with an understanding heart and an earnest and sincere desire to be helpful–to do some small service for someone else.

    We will miss her keenly and our gatherings will never be quite the same again, but we want to feel not that we have lost a friend but that we have a friend who will be ours forever.

            “There’s an open gate at the end of the road
                Thru which each must go alone
            And there in a light we cannot see
                Our Father claims His own.

            Beyond the gate your loved one
                Finds happiness and rest
            And there is comfort in the thought
                That a loving God knows best.”

    It seems to me that Arline has accomplished in her short span of years that which it will take most of us many more years to achieve.  She has already lived a lifetime of service to others.

            “Sweet as the tender fragrance that survives,
                When martyred flowers breathe out their little lives,
              Sweet as a song that once consoled our pain,
                But never shall be sung again
              In thy remembrance
                Now the hour of rest hath come to thee.
              Sleep loved one.  It is best.”

Clarence Knowles

    My dear brothers and sisters and friends and near relatives, it is with mixed emotions and deep gratitude in my heart that I stand here in this position today.  I am grateful for the confidence o this family who is called upon to mourn that they would ask me to speak, and I pray at this time that the prayer that was offered may be realized in my behalf, that those who take part on this program may have the spirit of the Lord.

    Arline, who remains lie here before us, has passed on from this state of existence.  She is not dead.  She is very much alive, and she is happy.  Happier than she has ever been.  She is a member of a family of ten children.  She is a twin–one of three pairs in this same family.
    I remember very vividly when the last pair of twins was born to this family.  I was working in California at the time.  I remember receiving a letter from Alfred Kunz in answer to one I had written him telling him how I thought he should feel thankful to his Heavenly Father for such a family.  I remember he said he was glad I had said that because many people had seemed to feel that things was overdone, and he was having too many children.

    Adam was commanded by our Heavenly Father to multiply and replenish the earth.  Then He said, “You will have joy and rejoicing in your posterity.”  Brother Kunz has a very wonderful posterity, and I am sure he is realizing the blessing given to Adam.

    His good wife, my sister, gave her life for this family.  She gave all she had.  Arline took up where her mother left off and has carried on wonderfully.  She too has given her all for this family.  And I am reminded of the Savior when He said, “No man has great love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  I wouldn’t trade their position in life if I had it for all the wealth in this world.  They have the greatest blessing that God has to give to mankind.

    I said Arline is not dead.  She isn’t.  She has lived up to the requirements of Jesus Christ as nearly as she had in her power to do so.  She is dressed today in the beautiful garments and robes of the Temple.  A blessing that doesn’t come to all people, but a good and great thing that can come to mankind.  She believed in Jesus Christ with all her heart.  She believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  She believed the sayings of the Savior when He said, “I am the resurrection and the light, and whosoever believeth in me shall be saved.”  So she is not dead.  She will never die.  She believed in these things.  The time will come when she will come back and take up this body and live in immortality.  She has complied with the law, and the law is the Celestial Law, that where God and Christ are those who live the law may live forever and forever.

    I pray that you good people will help to carry on.  Help these children.  Keep them straight.  Keep them clean as Arline has kept her life so when their life is finished they may go to as fine a reward as she is going to.

    I do not feel to take more of the time, but I do feel to thank my Heavenly Father for this family.  I thank my Father in Heaven for my heritage.  In this room site my uncle, who is the son of the original family who accepted the Gospel and came to America for its sake.

    My record show that my Grandmother was baptized by Brother Heber C. Kimball in England, and came to America for the gospel.  They settled in Logan in 1860.  My records show that my Grandfather also accepted the gospel in England and came to America in his young manhood.  He came and went through all the trials of the pioneers for the gospel’s sake.

    Now I hope and pray that we who are here today will be ever thankful for that heritage and may realize and accept the message that they accepted.  I want to bear my testimony that I know that his is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that if we comply with the ordinances we shall receive its blessings; but if we feel it isn’t necessary, I am sure we will not receive its blessings.  The Lord told Joseph Smith, “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do as I say, but when ye do not as I say, then ye have no promise.”

    I am sure Arline has complied with the laws as nearly as she had in her power and belief to accept them, and I feel to pray that the Lord will bless Brother Kunz and his family.  That He will come to their aid and help to keep the family together, and when their work is done, his entire family too may be saved as Arline.  This is my humble prayer and I ask it in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Clifton Kerr

    I am sure we are all humble today as we reflect upon the life of service and devotion of Arline.  You may search your memory for very many expressions in your experience of a life of devotion as great as hers.

    It is said that men live in deeds rather than in years, and I think her life bears out that statement.  It makes little difference whether people pass on in infancy, youth, middle age or old age.  The only thing that matters is what they did with the years allotted to them.

    It might be thought that this devotion of Arline’s interfered with her happiness.  The very nature of the service given to her family made it necessary that she be held away from many enjoyments young people have.  A family of younger brothers and sisters and the responsibilities she had with them, it was not possible to participate in many of the things young people do, and so we may wonder if she got out of life as much happiness as most young people do.

    To begin with, I am sure she got happiness in knowing she was doing the will of her mother, and she had faith that was abundant.  So in carrying on her responsibilities, I am sure she achieved happiness.

    One thinker has said happiness is having nothing to conceal in this life.  We all know how humbly she lived.  The tribute given her bears out that fact.  My first recollection of Arline was about seventeen years ago when I had her and her twin sister in a Sunday school class.  She was interested and humble then, and as I have observed her from time to time since, I have seen her interest grow and she has become very devoted to her church and her association has been with people who possess the same high ideals as she possessed.

    Another person has said a source of happiness is to obey God’s promise and help others to do so.  We know the efforts she has put forth to see that her younger brothers and sister were taught the principles of Jesus Christ.  I believe Arline has done a noble duty.  She has done her duty well and given encouragement to them to seek righteousness.

    There is no true happiness that is not connected with service to mankind.  When some of the followers of the Lord asked what great commandment to observe, He said, “Love the Lord” and the second one, “love they fellow men.”  He didn’t mean by this just to pay lip service to God, but the whole basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ is based upon the service we give our fellow men.

    In this respect I believe Arline achieved happiness in a way very few of us would understand.  So I am sure she knew happiness in her short life as much as many people do who live to a ripe old age.

    Monuments that have been built to men whose memory has endured have been built to men whose life was one of service.  The world quickly forgets those whose greatness has been built upon material things, but they shall long remember those whose service was in the service of mankind.  In this respect, I believe that Arline discovered a “Pearl of Great Price.”  She learned that the greatest thing is the saving of mankind.  Her memory should be sacred to us all.

    I am sure it needs to be said that Alfred treasures the great interest she took in that family after the death of her mother.  God bless her memory.  God bless those who are left to mourn with courage to carry on her great qualities.  I pray the spirit of the Lord will be with you and I do it, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Bishop Walton

    I was thinking as these services were going forward that this room and this building is a familiar place to Arline.  She understood all of it.  Perhaps the least one that she participated in was the recreation hall and yet she did that.  She came here to church.  She came here to the auxiliary association meetings.  She came to Relief Society meetings and work meetings.  All the rooms in this chapel were familiar to her, and as has been said she accomplished a great deal in a very short time.

    I am grateful this afternoon to be a friend to this great little girl and to her father and mother and the family.

    I remember saying at her mother’s funeral that God had been mindful of Alfred Kunz.  He had opened the portals of heaven and sent to him some very choice spirits.  As these boys and girls came to this wonderful wife and mother, she gave all she had to teach them the admiration of the Lord.

    I remember saying, too, that I was sure Sister Kunz would not regret giving her life for this family, and if Arline, too, has sacrificed many years of her life to carry on the responsibility she had assumed since the death of her mother, then they put a great responsibility on these fine boys and girls.  And for just a moment I would like to address my remarks to them in this thought.

    I am sure that God intended for Sister Kunz to live upon this earth until you got here.  She was to raise a large family and then right in the middle of life, her mission ended, and she returned to God.  She gave her life to you her family, and then Arline, poorly in health, took up the duties and responsibilities of her mother, and in spite of all that everyone could do to help and give her council, she too gave her all for the family.  She felt there was so much to accomplish and you boys and girls will never know until you have gone where she has gone.  You will never be able to appreciate or understand how much she loved you.

    The instinct of motherhood came to her, and it seems to me that all the beauties and powers of mother centered in that little girl, and with all her strength she exercised it for you boys and girls so you could benefit.  She never thought one minute of her own welfare.  It was always you boys and girls.  She came to me and talked to me about you.  I pray God will bless you that will associate what this life has meant to her and to her mother, and live so that when you meet them you will be able to say, I have kept the faith and did all I could to prove my appreciation for the untold sacrifice that has been made to me.

    If you will be true and faithful to the teachings of your father and mother, follow into the footsteps of this your sister, you can be assured that God will have a glorious blessing in His kingdom for you.  You must live according to the ways of the Lord which Arline has tried to teach you and then and only then will you ever see or enter the Celestial Kingdom of God.  The Lord has given us commandments which He expects us to follow.

            This sacrifice has been made for you, and I am sure you will hallow and appreciate it, and do all in your power to make them happy.  Don’t think that your mother and sister know not the life that you will live. The anxieties, the duties will be as great and they will ever be looking out for your welfare.

    There is a loving blessing in store for Brother Alfred because of his posterity.  Families are never divided.  Only sin can take them from you and me.  Before I forget, there are more people I want to pay tribute to-their neighbors, and particularly Sister Weese.  I have been in their home quite a number of times and I want to say I have never known a neighbor to be more devoted and concerned over the welfare of anyone than Sister Weese has been with Arline.  God bless her and give her the reward she so deserves.  I know she feels as keenly this loss today as anyone could except in their own blood and flesh.  She has been wonderful to Arline.  Always neighborly, feeling their interest in one another, that is one of the great gifts God bestowed upon us.  I pay my tribute to her neighbors all around her.  You have been interested and mindful of her and the children’s welfare.  May God bless us that we may be appreciative of the opportunities to serve.

    There are days coming when the valiant of the Lord will be called upon to offer up great sacrifices in service.  Conflict will be great.  Great things will transpire on the face of the earth.  I want to say to these boys–prepare yourself for that.  Let us see you in this building, in the classroom, for it is said man is saved no faster than he gains intelligence.  Most of us will live to see many great and wonderful things yet transpire.

    God bless you, Brother Alfred.  You are a good man and a good neighbor.  AS your bishop, I have never asked you to do a thing that you haven’t responded to.  God bless you and your family that they may have an opportunity to reflect many times upon the marvelous mother and sister who have gone to the other side and who will be waiting for you, if you are worthy.  God bless the memory of this dear girl, sweet, innocent, pure.  I could think of nothing more great than to have a character and disposition as she had.  She prepared herself, went to the House of the Lord and so she did everything she could and her reward I am sure is satisfying to her.

    Brother Alfred desired I should thank you for your presence here today, for the many acts of kindness you have given, for the floral offering, and all those who have taken part.  The family are grateful to you for this.

    I ask God’s blessings to be upon you.  May He bless us all, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

    The choir will now sing, “God Be With You ‘til We Meet Again.”  The benediction will be by Brother Floyd Stohl.

Benediction--Floyd Stohl

    Our Father in Heaven, we are deeply grateful for the opportunity we have of meeting here today, and we feel to thank Tee for the words of comfort given us.  We thank Thee for the gospel and the principles of eternal life that gives us hope that we may again associate with Arline.

    We ask Thee to bless Brother Kunz and his family, to help them and comfort them.  We pray that in our journey to the cemetery, no harm will befall us, that all may go well.  We pray for these blessings and we do it in Jesus name, Amen.


   

1951 4-6 Funeral Services of Alfred Kunz

Funeral Service for Alfred Grein Kunz
April 6, 1951

Order of Services

Prayer at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brother James Walton

Prelude  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Freiss

Quartette  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Kerr
    “Abide With Me”                Mervin Christensen
                            Carmi Campbell
                            Grant Thompson

Prayer    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Radcliffe Henry

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Oyler
    “Beyond the Sunset”                Ann Freiss, Accompanist


Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President Clifton G. M. Kerr

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brother Isaac Knowles
    “Just a Wearyin’ For You”

Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Floyd Stohl

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Earl Bust
    “In the Garden”

Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irvin Garfield

Vocal Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elmer Bailey
    “O My Father”

Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Horace Hunsaker

Postlude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Freiss

Dedication of Grave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clarence Knowles

Opening Remarks by Brother Ray Reader

    Brothers and sisters, we have met here this day to pay honor and respect to Brother Alfred G. Kunz.  Brother Kunz died Monday evening, April 2 at his home.  He was born on October 8, 1892 at Providence, a son of John and Magdalena Grein Kunz.  He was reared at Providence and moved to Tremonton shortly after.  He was married in 1913.  He married Rosa Knowles in the Logan Temple.  She died July 2, 1938, in Tremonton.  He married Sister Fern W. Baker June 19, 1946 in the Logan Temple.

    Brother Kunz has always been an active member of this church.  At the time of his death he was secretary of the seventy’s quorum, and he has been an outstanding ward teacher of this ward.

    He is survived by nine children, Mrs. Eveline Getz, Mrs. Vesta Flandro, Darrell Kunz, Eldon, Clenton, Norma, Elva, Floyd, and Lloyd Kunz.  He is also survived by ten stepchildren, Melvin Baker, Mrs. Elva Goodsell, Mrs. Mary Otta Reese, Mrs. Vaudis Miller, Mrs. Lilly Mae Thomas, Mrs. Josephine Bronson, Lowella, Lamar, Richard, and Ila Baker; six grandchildren; one brother, Ervin Kunz, and a half-sister, Mrs. Kate Pfeister.

    The program has been arranged at the request of the family.

Opening Prayer by Radcliffe Henry

    Our Father which art in Heaven, we have met here this afternoon in humility.  We bow our heads before Thee with thanksgiving in our hearts that we are permitted to meet here this day under such favorable circumstances.  We thank Thee for our homes and our loved ones and all the bounties of life we receive from day to day.  And in as much as we have met here this day, Father, to pay our respects to one of Thy valiant and noble sons who has departed from this life, we pray that Thy spirit and Thy holy influence will be here in these services to bless and sanctify everything that shall take place here this day.

    We prayer Thee, Father, in a special manner to bless the loved ones of this dear brother and those who have been called upon to mourn this day in the passing of our dear brother.  Bless them with Thy spirit that their hearts and minds will be turned to Thee.  In a special manner we pray Thee to bless his wife and those who are close and near and dear unto him, that they too may realize that this passing is due to the weaknesses that beset the mortality of man and that it is Thy will that all these things shall take place at a given time.

    We pray Thee to bless us here as individuals in this community that we may realize our true position here on the earth, that we may work together for the establishing of the brotherhood of man here.  We pray Thee to be with us as we further wait before Thee, and let Thy blessings be here in abundance, all of which we do in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by President Clifton G. M Kerr

    This is the third time in the last thirteen years that it has been my honor to render a small service to this family–in 1938 the passing of the mother of the Kunz children, Alfred’s first wife, and again in 1944 with the passing of Arlene.  And it is an honor and a privilege again today to make a few expressions in behalf of the people who know these remarkable families.  Now I say they are remarkable families, the Baker family and the Kunz family for various reasons.  First, it is a remarkable thing today for ten children to be in a family.  When you unite two families with ten children, it is all the more remarkable; and then when you find three sets of twins in one family, it is just one of those rare things.  So I say this is a rare opportunity to pay tribute to two rare families.

    It has been an interesting thing to see the experiment, if I may call it that, of the uniting of two such rare families.  I have been in their home many times, and I am impressed with the immense amount of good will and good felling that existed there.  Certainly it is a tribute to the character and good dispositions and the sweetness of the leaders of these two families, Alfred and Sister Baker, that they could weld them into the harmonious unit that they were.  This speaks louder than anything else we can say.

Now Alfred and Sister Baker were married about five years ago, and I know that in that time that union has brought them much happiness; and the regrettable thing is that it couldn’t continue a few more years, at least till all the children were reared and probably on their own.  Of course, we cannot always decide those things or supply a reason for them.  But there are circumstances that could occur and do occur that make even this thing that I refer to as being regrettable, the best thing.  There is an ancient legend that bears on this thought.  The people of the earth, so the legend goes, became angered with the dark angel of death because this angel of death seemed to be unjust and untimely in his actions.  He took the young and the innocent and good and seemed to pass over the evil and aged and those who were helpless, so they prayed that the dark angel of death should be taken from the earth.  And the so-called dark angle of death, offended, closed his books and left the earth.  But a few years later a huge wail came up.  Folks with incurable disease had to suffer unendurably.  Aged by the millions saw no end to their infirmities.  Well, the people again united in prayer and pleaded for the dark angle to return and assume his benign ministry.
    Now death is regrettable, a thing of sorrow and yet in the scheme of things in this life it has its place.  It is good in the scheme of things.  Anything that is so universal as death is, and anything that can relieve human suffering such as death does, in so many cases, cannot be entirely bad, though at times our understanding of the causes cannot be had.  But it is a part of the great plan of eternal salvation.  It is a part of that plan that we accepted before we came into this life.  Brother Alfred understood that plan well and lived by it, and if he were to speak today I believe that Alfred would want to say something to his children and to the Baker children.  I believe that I could say in my own words what I think Alfred would like to say.  I think they would be the things I would want to say to my children, to those I loved; but I am going to read a note a mother left her son after she took her own life.  She had grieved over the divorce that had occurred between her and her husband.  She took her own life, but she left a note for her only son; and what she said to him any father would like to say to his son or daughter.  She said;

    These are the things I want you to do always:
    When there is a job to do, do a good job.  Never a sloppy one.
    Work hard when you work, but play hard, too.
        Be active with your hands and mind; but find plenty of time to observe how beautiful and strange the world is.
        Never live too far away from outdoors.  From trees and birds, animals and plants, and insects, mountains and blue water.
    Never, never start a fight.  But if someone else does, given ‘em back what they asked for.

    And she summed it up by saying, “And above all, be a man among men.”  Then she said, “I’ll love you till the end of time.  Mother.”

    She expressed there a philosophy of life that could fit all of us.  It is good and fine, and I believe if Alf could speak now, he would want to include those thoughts in his legacy to his children, along with a good name that he has left them.  It is interesting as we contemplate the fact that here today, and tomorrow, we will see two individuals laid away who are of widely varying dispositions, make-up and background.  I refer to the burial tomorrow of George Albert Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the man who has held the highest position, that it is within the power of you and I to sustain him in and who is recognized by the Lord as the head of His church.  Now Alf hasn’t traveled very far.  His calling has been humble, and yet when the day of judgement comes, Alfred has just as good a chance; and you and I have just as good a chance to achieve as those who activities may have been more widely heralded.  It isn’t how big a position have I filled, but how well have I filled the position that was mine to fill.

    Now as I view this family of ten children and know the service that Alf has rendered to the Baker children, who of us can imagine a calling, a responsibility of great import?  I have no fear for the future of the soul of Alfred Kunz.  He lived well, one of the humble, common men of the earth, a man who lived consistently.  In the thirty years I have known him, he has not gone to the right or the left from the philosophy he has held; and part of it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that has been part of his life.  And now as we bid adieu to his earthly remains, we should be thoughtful of the fact that every hour, every minute the time schedule of our own lives is moving onward.

        A little more tired at close of day,
        A little less anxious to have our way,
        A little less ready to scold and blame,
        A little more care for another’s name,
        And so we are nearing the journey’s end,
        Where time and eternity meet and blend.
        A little less care for bonds and gold,
        A little less zest than in days of old,
        A broader view and a saner mind,
        And a little more love for all mankind,
        A little more careful of what we say;
        And so we are faring adown the way.
        A little more love for the friends of youth,
        A little more zeal for established truth,
        A little more charity in our views,
        A little less thirst for the daily news,
        And so we are folding our tents away,
        And passing in silence at close of day.

    Now may our Father in Heaven be merciful unto these two families that this day may be a sacred memory to them, that in the years to come as they visit his grave they shall have fondest and happiest memories of the worthy father whose name they bear.  This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Remarks by Floyd Stohl

    My dear brothers and sisters and friends, I feel very anxious and very humble in occupying this position and I do ask an interest in your faith and prayers that I might be able to say something here that will bring comfort and hop to those families who are suffering a loss of a father and husband here today.  I do feel that it is an honor to be asked to say a few words at this time.  My first recollections of my early life are associated with the Kunz families.  When we first lived out at the ranch, we hade Brother Emil Kunz as a neighbor, and north of us lived Brother Alf.  Brother Emil had his boys and girls, and we associated with them.  These people were fine neighbors.  At that time, we had no automobiles, so our associations were much more than we have today.

    When I became ten years of age, Brother Emil and his family moved to Idaho, and then Alf Kunz was our nearest neighbor.  I remember all of his children as they grew up, and as the years went on we worked together.  He would help us harvest, and we would help him.  Alfred had a gift to repair things, and I can recall innumerable occasions when he came to our place to help us move a building or to help us remodel.  He was always willing to do this, and it seemed he received much joy and satisfaction to see something that would be more convenient for those who had to use it.  He built a home–a nice home, and he had in it all the conveniences it was possible to have for his family.  On one occasion the Savior was approached by a lawyer, and he was asked:

        Which is the first commandment of all?
        And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord;
        And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, and with all they soul, and with all they mind, and with all they strength: This is the first commandment.
        And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.

    This commandment was literally accepted by Brother Kunz.  He did love his God, and he did all in his power to serve him, and he did love his neighbor as himself.

    I had the good fortune to work in the Elder’s Quorum with Alfred, and I can remember many different times when he would go to help someone less fortunate than himself, and he would spend days and sometimes weeks in helping them.  He did not do this for honor but because he loved the Lord and loved his neighbor.  I recall when they built this chapel and were finishing the canning room in the basement.  The electric stoves and sinks were installed by Brother Alfred.  That was the spirit Brother Kunz had.

    As Brother Kerr has stated, Alfred had a large family, and he did love this family.  He wasn’t the man to preach to them.  In fact, I can’t remember a single time when he spoke from the pulpit.  He taught by example.  He taught them to be honest, industrious, to pay their tithing and he taught them to attend their meetings and to do that which they should do and all because of his love for the Lord and his love for the Lord’s work and love for his family.  I think that we can all of us, for the most part, remember this family as they came up.  I can recall when the boys were deacons and how faithful they were at the sacrament table.  The girls taught Sunday School and were very active in their mutual and other work that the church might call upon them to do.  I am not so well acquainted with Norma and Elva, but I am sure that through the teachings they receive from their mother and father, they have been valiant in working in the church.

    Alfred’s first wife worked with him in harmony in teaching these children.  She did everything in her power that they might teach them the correct and true way of life.  Another virtue Brother Kunz had was the fact that he didn’t complain.  He had to bear more than his lot of sorrow in his life–first in the loss of his wife, then in the loss of his daughter, Arlene, who had filled her mother’s shoes.  He did have to suffer a lot, but he never did complain or lose faith in God.  I remember quite well when Arlene was so sick and Alf was trying to take care of his family and the love that he had for his family and especially for Arlene.  At the ranch he would stop at the house and call to see how she was feeling.  If she wasn’t feeling better, he would return to take care of her.  He believed in service to humanity, and through all this he never would complain or feel that he was mistreated.  I was happy when I learned that he had taken this good woman, Sister Baker, into his home to help raise his family; and I am sure he appreciated all she had done for him.  And I am sure his family appreciates all she has done for him.  I know that she did as much as possible to bring him comfort and cheer in his last sickness.  I am sure he did thank them all for it.

    I have worked with his boys, and I have found them to have many characteristics of Alf.  They are honest and good workers.  I have found in this family the same unselfish spirit that Alf had.  In talking with them, they have all expressed their love for him and how much they will miss him, but they would rather he go to his reward than to stay and suffer.

    That is a test of their love for their neighbor and for their loved ones.  I know, and they know that they are going to miss his counsel, his love, and his guidance; but I am sure they are going to carry on as he would want them to.
    I would like to say that their father and mother and Arlene are reunited in the spirit world and are just as interested in your welfare as if they were here.

    In the passing of Brother Kunz, I have lost a neighbor, a friend, and a man that loved me as he loved himself; and I do want to say that I know through this gospel we have that we will all have the opportunity of seeing him again.  I ask the Lord’s blessings upon you so that he will comfort you during your hour of trial.  I do it in Jesus’ name, Amen.
                               

Remarks by Irvin Garfield

    My dear brothers and sisters, it is with mixed emotions that I stand before you this beautiful afternoon.  It is with a prayer in my heart that I might say something that will help in a small way to compensate this family for the sorrow that they are experiencing at this time because of the loss of their dear father and husband.  We are met here this afternoon as is usually the case from time to time to pay tribute to one of God’s chosen children who has passed from this earthly existence.  WE are here for the purpose of honoring the memory of a good man, and I am sure that there are none here in this congregation or none who are unable to be here and who are acquainted with Brother Kunz that would not say that this explanation is befitting to his character and that of his family.

    Brother Kunz was a good man.  All of us would do well if we could emulate his life and be able to look forward to our passing knowing that we had lived as he has lived–humbly before the Lord, and that we have rendered service to mankind.  I want at this time to express my sympathy and that of the bishopric to the family, to Sister Kunz, the sons and daughters, and stepchildren of Brother Kunz.  We know that in his passing they are going to sustain a great loss.  I also want to express the hope and the fact that the Lord will comfort them and that his blessings will attend them.  I know that Sister Kunz and the family expected this to take place, and that they realized sooner or later that they would have to be separated from the sweet association of their loved one who has been so faithful to them.

    As has been mentioned by President Kerr and by Brother Stohl, it is very unusual; it is seldom that two families such as the Kunz and the Bakers have been united by a second marriage of both mother and father where the spirit of unity and devotion and love has so prevailed.  It is a spirit of love and unity that can be fully understood by one who fully understands the principles of the gospel, and I know that this family understands these principles.  I think that the love that existed between Brother and Sister Kunz and these families is best illustrated by the immortal word of Sir Walter Scott in his work, “The Lady of the Lake” where he says that love is a gift given from God to mankind upon the earth.  Now that is something that in my estimation separates the children of God from all other creations.  It is the spark of divinity that you and I have.  This is the love that God gives us, and there is a love that was given to Brother and Sister Kunz for one another and to these families.  He goes on to say that it is the silver tie and the golden tread that binds two souls and two hearts into one.  That is the love that Brother and Sister Kunz have exhibited for one another and these families.  They have united as one by this spirit that is given from heaven above.

    There are many times in one’s life, and I am sure that it has presented itself in the last few months in the life of Sister Kunz and these boys and fine daughters, that we wonder why it is that mankind is called upon so many times to suffer so much, that a devoted father or a loving mother or a brother and sister whom we dearly love must lie and linger on in suffering or pain.  And those who have experienced this, those who have watched so hopelessly and felt themselves so helpless when a dear one was going by inches could fully realize that in pain and sorrow there is a mellowing thought.  It does have a purpose, my brothers and sisters.  It is a good disciplinarian.  It is one of the things that teaches us above all else obedience.  It was the pain and the sorrow and the suffering that our Saviour had to go through that taught him obedience to the things that God wanted him to do.  And we have been given this commandment that Brother Stohl read: “Love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart, might, mind, and strength.”  This would be impossible unless we could experience some of the things that he experienced.  That brings us closer to one another.  It is the suffering that brings us much closer to our Father in Heaven.  There is no other way that we can be brought close to him so that we can appreciate the things that he really did for us.  The suffering that our Saviour experienced was intense, and I think that for a few minutes we could contemplate on that.  I would like to read from the Doctrine and Covenants what the Lord himself said in a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  He said: (D & C 19:16-18)

        For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent,
        But if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I,
        Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink.

    Now what should be our attitude when these things come upon us?  I think that the example was set for us by the Saviour when he was in the garden of Gethsemene, and I know that this is the attitude and spirit that has permeated these fine families.  In visiting with them I have never heard them once complain or express sorrow or ill feelings to our Father in Heaven because this came upon them.  We know that in the garden of Gethsemene our Saviour was suffering so much that he was bleeding from the pores, and he was also conscious of the fact that more anguish was to come.  Yet he cried out to his Father in Heaven, “If it is possible, let this pass from me; but if not, not my will be done but Thy will.”  And this has been the spirit and the feeling of Brother and Sister Kunz and their dear and beloved family during the illness of their father.  I would like to also say unto them, and I am certain that in the future they will carry on as they have done in the past as their dear father so nobly expressed shortly before his death.

    Another thing I would like to mention and a thought that I would like to leave and that is that I believe like the late president, Joseph Fielding Smith once stated that we as the children of God do live in the presence of heavenly beings and messengers and that the veil that separates us from them is very thin and that where we cannot see beyond the veil we are quite certain that the loved ones that have passed beyond can look down at their handiwork and that since they have been advanced as we are to advance, they are much more concerned about the things we do after their passing than before.  Their knowledge has been expanded.  They can see the temptations and the pitfalls that beset mankind, and because of that love for us, even after death their desire for our well-being is much greater than that which we have for ourselves.  And with this thought I would like to say to the sons and the daughters and the stepchildren who are left, this thing that I know Brother Kunz would say, and I have heard him express it in my presence several times.  He said that those who are active in church should continue doing good in the future as you have in the past, and that you will receive joy and happiness and blessings that cannot be received in any other way under the sun.

    It is through our own efforts that we work out the degree of salvation that is coming to us, and that is the reason that we are here upon the earth.  We are not here for any other purpose.  It was the plan that was devised and worked out before the creation of this earth that we should come down here as children of the Lord and that our spirit should have a tabernacle of flesh and bones and blood and that we should during this period of probation work out the degree of salvation to which we shall attain.  And after we have done this, the spirit is again called home to that God that gave it to the body to rest in peace.  It is free from the torment of the flesh.  Satan has no more power over it.  This is part of the plan of salvation and exaltation.

    I know that this family will again meet with their father.  They will partake of his association, his advice and fine spirit that he has given to this family.  I think that the family is to be commended greatly for their achievements, for the work that they have done here in this community, the service they have rendered to the ward, not only the family of Brother Kunz, but the family of Sister Baker.  My brothers and sisters, it should be an inspiration to you and to me and to everyone here that people can come into a community and render the service that this family of Sister Baker’s has.  That is a testimony to me.  Now may God grant His choice blessings to this family that they may revere the memory of their father.  I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Closing Prayer by Horace Hunsaker

    Our Father who dwells in the Heavens, in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, we come before Thee in the close of these beautiful services for Brother Kunz; and we wish to thank Thee for the many blessings that we have received from Thee at this time.  We thank Thee, our Heavenly Father, for this spirit that has been here in our midst that we have felt.  We thank Thee for the beautiful words of truth and consolation that have been spoken.  We thank Thee our Heavenly Father, for the life of Brother Kunz, for the privilege we have had of knowing him, of being a neighbor to him and for the influence for good that he has had in our lives.  We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for the many blessings that we received.  We ask Thee to bless Sister Kunz with Thy spirit to buoy her up at this time of sorrow, that her testimony of the gospel may be strengthened at this time, and that Thy spirit may be with her to comfort her and to help her understand They will be done.

    Bless the Kunz family, these fine boys and girls, we pray humbly, Heavenly Father, that Thy spirit may remain with them always that they may walk uprightly before Thee that they may remember their father and mother and the fine example they set.  We ask Thee to go with us, Father, to the cemetery, that no accident may befall us, that peace may be with us and to be with us at all times.  Dismiss us with They blessing, we humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

2000 4-10 Lloyd's Funeral

Funeral held Monday, April 10, 2000 in Logan, Cache, Utah

Burial held Monday, April 10, 2000 at Tremonton, Box Elder, Utah

Lloyd’s Funeral--Norma Johnson, speaker

April 10, 2000

    I feel it a real honor to be Lloyd’s sister and be asked to speak at  his funeral today.  I pray for the Lord’s blessings to be with me to say the right things.  This talk was mainly taken from an interview done with Lloyd sitting on his front porch in August of 1994.

My Memories

    As kids I remember Lloyd as a kind and loving brother.  As twins, Lloyd and Floyd would walk home from school together.  It seemed to me they got picked on a lot.  Floyd remembers Lloyd and him going hunting and fishing up Logan Canyon, and Black Smith Fork Canyon.  Floyd, and Lloyd, Clenton, and Eldon, and their next door neighbor, Aaron Weiss all went deer hunting to Grouse Creek and Park Valley.

    I can remember the times when sugar, shoes, and levis were rationed.  Both Floyd and Lloyd would have to go to the store to prove they needed levis the same size.  Lloyd, Floyd, Elva, and myself had a lot of the same friends.  Lloyd served in the army with many of these friends.  Lloyd sent me a wooden jewelry box and handkerchief that I really cherished.  I will continue to cherish my memories with him.

The Separator

    Our Dad was a farmer, a hard worker, and taught us the same.  Lloyd remembers “when we had a separator we cranked that made milk and cream.  The waste or whey would be fed to the pigs and the cream was sold to a creamery where they made butter.  Sometimes we made homemade cottage cheese.  We had a butter churn with little paddles in it to make our own homemade butter, too.  We put in a couple of drops of orange food coloring so it wouldn't be white.”

Harvesting Grain

    “Dad started harvesting grain early about five o'clock in the morning.  As long as he could see he'd be out working.  He'd give the horses a rest at noon during the hot part of the day, then he'd go back out and work until sundown.  Sometimes at noon the harnesses had to be repaired so the horses got the rest of the day off.  He repaired his own harnesses, and they were always breaking.  There were times when a couple of horses would get ornery like some women get.  Sometimes they didn't even want the harness on and he'd have a heck of a time with them in the barn.  They'd back up and start kicking and everything.  With a couple of 'em he really had to watch his step, but they were good workers once he got them hooked up.”

A Fordson Tractor

    “When Floyd and I were old enough to run the tractor Dad would leave it up to us to haul off the rock and plant the grain while he stayed in Tremonton to do electric work. As an electrician I went with him on a lot of the jobs and wired different homes.”

Two Big Families Together
 
     More of Lloyd’s recollections and in his own words,  “It was quite a handful to marry the Baker family.  Fern Baker still had [six] children when he married her.  We did okay though as far as being all together with fourteen mouths around the table--that was quite a few potatoes!  We had a long bench on one side of the huge table.  There wasn't a lot of fighting; we got along good.  With two mixed families of fourteen of us you'd think we'd have quite a stir.  With three sets of twins it was quite a handful to take hold of.”

    “Fern was old-fashioned like my dad.  She was a good to us.  We all enjoyed her cooking.  She believed in making things from scratch--homemade bread and things that would stretch.  We accepted her really as more of a mother than our real mother, because we were so small and didn't remember our real mother.  We accepted her quickly as a mom.  I felt bad not having a mother and missing one.  It bothered me growing up.  There's something that you look for--I felt like something was missing.”


Childhood Memories

    “My best memory of childhood is the fun we had with Ben Price, our neighbor who lived about half a mile from us.  We swam in the canal, scouting, and growing up being a young boy. When I was young I was involved in the Boy Scouts.  When we were in scouting he didn't say do this, do that, because he knew we were taught to prepare yourself, and stay with your teachings.  I became an Eagle Scout.  When I went in the service and when the estate was sold my bandalo went with it.  It was probably one of those things that they threw out.  I wish I had it today to show my grandkids that I did make Eagle Scout.”

Elva’s Memories

    Elva & Ben, Erma & Lloyd were all best of friends and went camping, and hunting together.  Along with having many a dinner and card playing get-togethers.  On one camping trip Erma came up with one of her many pranks.  Erma and Elva took petrified, shaved wood and mixed it with mayonnaise, pickles, seasoning to make a tasty tuna fish sandwich for Ben & Lloyd.  As Erma had planned, Lloyd wanted something to eat when Ben and he returned from fishing.  Ben knew Erma and Elva could be up to no good.  He passed on the sandwich to Lloyd.

    Elva worried he’d choke on it and said, “Lloyd, don’t swallow it.  It’s wood!”

    Erma told Elva to be quiet.  Lloyd spit the wood out and said, “Erma, why in the hell would you do something like that?”  This was typical for Erma and Lloyd.

    Elva remembers Lloyd taking his and Elva’s children to the candy store all the time.  Erma, would tell him, “No,” but he did it anyway.  He didn’t ever want the children getting in trouble or to be punished and came to their rescue all the time.

    Vesta is ten years older than Lloyd and helped in the raising of the four youngest children.  Vesta recalls how concerned Lloyd always was for Marion and the family.  Lloyd tells, “Wayne was [drafted] in the [army] when Vesta married him.  Marion had to sleep in a cast.  They had a plaster Paris cast made for her that her little arm stuck downwards and she had to sleep on her side.”


In The Service For Me

    “My life was affected quite a bit when Dad died while I was in the service.    I was about twenty-one years old when Dad died.  I had left at eighteen and I came home on an ten-day emergency furlough because Dad was very sick with cancer.  It was hard to accept.  He was nothing but skin and bones.  It was hard for me to shave him with that skin laying on bone.  There were places I cut him because there was no flesh underneath.  He died and was buried while I was home.  I was shipped to Cap Gordon, Georgia.  I went through signal school.  I got a year's extension thrown on me and that sent me to Korea--that was Uncle Sam for you.  I had three years total and was getting close to being discharged and then the extension came.  I was discharged in Seattle, Washington upon returning from Korea.”

    Vesta remembers that Lloyd was honored with the best-dressed soldier award.  He was always a very neat, clean dresser. 

Dad--A Real Wonderful Guy

    Lloyd said, “My grandchildren need to know my dad was a real wonderful guy.  He was true spoken.  He told you the truth.  He told you things you shouldn't do.  He was always on the right track for you.  That's what I like about him.  He was strict.  I didn't have bad feelings about his strictness other than when I got a strapping with that razor strap.  We knew what we got it for.  It hurt!  He didn't slow back on--you knew what you got that strapping for.  He was plain on what we had done wrong.  He was strict about doing right and that's what I liked or will never forget about him.”

Memories of Lloyd

April 8, 2000

These are the memories that Erma and her family

have asked for me to share today.

     Erma remembers:  Lloyd was a handy person with wood.  He made picnic tables, paper towel holders, candle holders  and many other things.   He made tin men out of used cans and airplanes out of aluminum cans.   He had his closet full of all sorts of cans, tools and other things that “may be useful”.  Much to Erma’s distress.  We had a cow that we raised and it was more like a family pet than a cow.  Lloyd would take grain into the cow and grab the horns and shake the cow around and back it back and forth by the horns.  One day he was in a hurry and had no time to play.  When Lloyd turned around the cow put his horns under his belt and gave Lloyd a thrill by shaking him around.   That cow also had a time with the nice clean sheets hanging on the line.  

    Doug remembers he and Daddy built a pinewood derby car.  It was black and had red flames down the side.  Daddy and Doug went to the derby and won second place.  Doug remembers that Daddy was an Eagle Scout and was proud of all his accomplishments.

    Sherrie remembers the family watched the movie of Alfred Hitchcocks’ The Birds.  It was a scary show about birds.  Directly after the movie she went up to get a dress for school the next day out of her closet.  There was a bird in that closet that flew down and scared the heck out of her.  She was screaming loudly and started to run down the stairs.  Daddy met her half-way up the stairs as she was running down them.  He captured the bird and saved the day.    She was getting ready for school one morning sitting in front of the mirror in her bedroom.  There was an explosion and she started the same screaming and running down stairs yelling someone was trying to shoot her.  Daddy checked out the room and found an aspirin bottle that Connie stuffed with dough.  It had exploded and sent glass everywhere.

    Debbie remembers that Daddy was babysitting Sherrie, her and Connie while mom went to get a Christmas tree.  Connie had beautiful long ringlet curls.  We all sat on the legs under the big round table that we had.  Each of us took turns cutting off these beautiful curls to bounce them.  Boy, was daddy in trouble when mom got home.

    Connie remembers daddy fishing out at Benson Marina, he caught a big mess of fish and would bring them home.  He cleaned them and filleted them and fried them up.  We would have a big plate full of nice fish. Never seeing a bone.  We would eat all of them before Mom got home from work.

    Ronda remembers Dad checking her out of school while mom was at work to take her fishing.  Mom never knew that he did this.  Taking her to dance lessons and sitting there for 3 hours watching her.

   Joyce, Erma’s sister, remembers camping with Lloyd and him making the best coffee around.  You could smell it all throughout the campground.  No one could make it as good as Lloyd.

    All the kids remember Daddy talking about his life in the army.  He would bring out his many ribbons he earned in the Korean war.  He remembered when he received them and would tell us many stories of the war.  He would save his candy bars to give the Korean children and hand them to them through the fence.  He talked about his barracks and that the bed had to be made so that a penny would bounce on it.

    He was always there to take us to school (when we missed the bus on purpose).  Taxi the kids and their friends to the girl’s glee practice at 6:00 in the morning.   Brought us fresh pork rinds home from work.

    He helped Debbie change her first tire and taught her how to change the oil in her car.  He tried (not successfully) to teach Sherrie to drive.  It was an old station wagon with three gears on the column.  Sherrie was so upset at her dad for the instruction he was trying to give her.  She left the car in the middle of the intersection.

  Whenever Dean ask Lloyd if he had a tool of some sort.  He was very quick on his artificial leg.  He would take off to get whatever the need, with Dean lagging behind.

  Heather remembers coming down to babysit him while Grandma had a short break.  He always wanted chicken nugget happy meals with BBQ sauce and a small coke from McDonalds.

    Forrest remembers Grandpa making guns out of wood and rubber bands.   And, when he made one.  None of the others would go without one so, he would end up making many for all of the grandkids.

    We all know that mom spent countless hours taking care of our Dad.   We are so thankful for her and feel very blessed to have such a happy close family.  There is no possible way we can tell you of all our happy memories, for we have many.  We are grateful that he is the hands of God and with his buddy Travis.

Our Sympathies and Goodbyes

    Lloyd dealt with his health problems and never complained even when one knew he was suffering.  Erma we send our deepest appreciation to you for the years of loving care you gave to Lloyd.  The children’s and grandchildren’s support couldn’t be measured.  We as family and friends love each of you and offer our deepest sympathy and know how much you will miss him. 

    Erma, your children have said, “We all know that mom spent countless hours taking care of our Dad.   We are so thankful for her and feel very blessed to have such a happy, close family.  There is no possible way we can tell you of all our happy memories, for we have many.  We are grateful that he is in the hands of God and with his grandson and buddy, Travis.”

    May the Lord’s blessing be with each of you.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.