Gerreld Lewis Pulsipher

1939 ~ 2018

Gerreld (Jerry) Lewis Pulsipher passed away peacefully in his home Sunday afternoon, 10 June 2018. His final days were spent surrounded by people whose lives he touched with his kind and noble spirit.

The eldest of Lewis and Marian Pulsipher’s six children, Jerry was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and grew up on the edge of the desert, playing in the wild hills surrounding Boulder City, Nevada, and St. George, Utah. At the age of seven, his family moved to Salt Lake City, and a few years later moved into a house across the street from his future wife, Nancy Funk. It took until after he’d returned from an LDS mission in Great Britain for Jerry to notice Nancy, but once she’d caught his eye he was smitten. Their love persisted through fifty-three years of marriage, producing six children and twenty-five grandchildren (so far).

A man of profound feeling, “love” is a concept that extended into every facet of Jerry’s life. He enjoyed a deep connection to the places and spaces of both the American West and England and throughout his life he endeavored to capture this love through photography, painting, sketches, and writing. His reverence for “the place which God for us prepared” drove him to get actively involved in a number of preservation and restoration efforts. Jerry blazed his own trail. With his brother and best friend, Rich, he built a business that told the stories of places he loved, designing educational exhibits for museums and visitor centers for national and state parks throughout the West and beyond. Jerry’s most profound love was reserved for his Heavenly Father, with whom he enjoyed a close relationship. Jerry spent his life serving God and his fellow man in a variety of church callings, including twice as bishop, as well as in his favorite calling—choir director.

Jerry is survived by his wife Nancy and six children—David (Dawn) Pulsipher, Holly (Brent) Burton, Marta (Stephen) Sloan, Rebecca (Peter) Breinholt, Caroline (Lincoln) Howell, Marcus (Natalie) Pulsipher—twenty-five grandchildren (with another on the way), his sister Marilyn (Terry) Baird, and two brothers, Joel and Doug (Vera) Pulsipher. Jerry’s gentle and kind spirit will be dearly missed, but those who love him most feel comfort and joy in knowing he is reunited with his beloved parents, siblings Richard and Sherryl, and sister-in-law Denise, who preceded him in death.

A visitation with the family will be held on Wednesday evening, June 20, from 6:00-8:00 PM at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 S Highland Drive. The following morning, Thursday, June 21, at 9:30 AM, an interment service will occur at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park. Later that afternoon a memorial service to celebrate Jerry’s life will be held at the Holladay Stake Center, 4568 South Holladay Boulevard, at 1:00 PM, followed by a visitation with the family at the church.

The family wishes to express their sincere gratitude to Solstice Hospice, especially Jolene Wilkinson and Anthony Hancock, as well as Beehive Senior Care, particularly Cory Jolley, for their tender and attentive care. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jerry’s name to the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Alzheimer’s Association.