Maurice Xavier Pia

Those of us who knew Maurice and have been able to share in his time on Earth have been left with less of a feeling of deep grief at his loss, but more a profound gratitude for the mark he has made in our hearts and the example of a life well lived.

Maurice X. Pia, born September 8, 1930, was the youngest of eight children born to Frank Pia (Austria) and Kathryn de Jong Pia (Holland) immigrants to the United States. As a child, Maurice spent many days helping and learning in the family bakery that his father owned in the Salt Lake area. Decades later many of his grandchildren recall perfectly crisp meringues at holiday celebrations and carefully shaped fluffy pancakes on Sunday evenings.

He described turning seven years old as a turning point in his life, vividly recalling that he felt he was grown and had important work to do. At the time he was living with his family in California, and he would often walk past the bars where the sailors hung out. In the windows of the bars there were ships in bottles and he was fascinated by them, beginning his love for models, trains, and tiny, precise things. Even in the last few months of his life he would still talk about those ships with a bit of that little boy’s excitement. He shared this love time and time again: meticulously helping a grandson design and sand smooth a first place winning “pinewood derby” car; for days helping to glue tiny trees, paint and epoxy for another grandchild’s junior high diorama project. His basement workplace was a magical combination of tools and toys where he would show the details of his train models with a magnifying light. Many of these he made from scratch, forming couplings, wheels, and rods from sheet metal, melted and poured into forms he had created.

As Maurice grew up he took high school and college classes in drawing, painting and sculpting, and although he was a realist he indulged his artistic side by completing many splendid pen-and-ink line drawings of landscapes and ornate buildings each of which he had visited and photographed. He painted a beautiful Portofino, Italy seascape that hung in his living room for decades. In his way, he was celebrating the beauty and complexity of life.

During his service with the US Army he was stationed in Japan (1951-1952), where he took classes from a Japanese art instructor that influenced him greatly. Maurice was drafted into the military (Army) and was destined for the front lines of Korea. However, he was one of the very few chosen to be called out and assigned to Tokyo, Japan, to be a cartographer in photogrammetric mapping, the modeling of the earth. This became his life’s work. He also developed a great love for the Japanese people. He considered serving there a miracle and crossroads in his life.

After the war he continued in the mapping business and in 1965 co-founded Olympus Aerial Surveys, a mapping firm in Salt Lake City. He mapped and modeled the earth for municipalities, mining companies and civil engineering projects for nearly 50 years. He served for a time as president of the US Photogrammetry Society.

In 1950 Maurice married the love of his life, Carol Bissegger in the Salt Lake Temple. They were married 67 years, and share five children; Karl M. Pia (Gina), Nancy Bergstrom (Alan), Anne Marie Nielson (Rand), Lisa Pia, and Jennifer Smith (Kyle), 21 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. He felt that nothing in this world was better or more important than family, “Family is all that counts when you come down to it, and I have been blessed with the best.” He introduced his children to hiking, camping, road trips, and just enjoyed the time spent together teaching them about life, love of God, ethics, and how to pee in the mountains (aka “drain your radiator.”) He was known to impishly spank his wife with a kitchen spatula while she made dinner. Making her give a little scream and sending the kids giggling when he followed with a flirty kiss.

Maurice was unfailingly generous with his time, came to all the important life events, countless graduations, blessings, weddings and school concerts, and would stop to give a hug before school when he could. He was open and loving and gentle, never hesitant to hold a baby or give kisses. His love was also hands-on and practical. Every child and grandchild has a story of something he helped with: renovating a basement–teaching along the way to measure twice and cut once, making wooden bug houses, his daughters’ beloved back yard play house and installing laminate flooring even in his 80’s! He was careful to show his family about the beauty of the world, taking grandchildren on special trips to the Utah Symphony, or the Model Train Expo.

Maurice had an old soul but his family dinner table was vibrant and modern, people from across the country and even across the globe were welcomed to eat with him regardless of circumstances. Discussions about life and world events at family dinners could be animated, but he carefully considered other points of view than his own, and he genuinely cared about fairness and justice. He fancied himself the Arch Enemy of Trump, but Maurice was not overly political, preferring to make social change through acts of service and love. He was never afraid to share his faith, his testimony of the Gospel and his love of God– which he did every Christmas Eve when the family gathered at his home.

He was a faithful and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, holding many callings throughout his lifetime. He was a Stake missionary, he served two years in the missionary department in the land department and served as high counselor, bishops counselor, and Branch President. He enjoyed teaching Priesthood. His favorite calling was serving for several years in the Marriage Waiting Room in the Salt Lake Temple with his life-long bride Carol. He had many sacred experiences there.

He volunteered with the Sons of Utah Pioneers scholarship committee and wanted to award to students who had overcome obstacles such as immigration or abuse history. He valued educational opportunities for everyone and always encouraged education with family, in his work and community.

He was a tall man, remembered fondly for much of his life as the "gentle giant" because he towered over many around him and yet he had such a kind, welcoming and loving nature. In recent years, old age and longing for those he has missed weighed on him. His physical body was stooped and bent though he was determined to do what he could. He now strides uprightly back to his heavenly home to the embrace of those loved ones who preceded him: his beloved wife Carol, siblings Ruth, Julia, Dominicus, Alfonso, Leroy (survived by Maria “ZeZe”Jose Muniz Pia), Louise, and Laverne, his parents and his dear granddaughter Stasha M. Callin.

Maurice X. Pia was plainspoken, humble, practical and devoted. He saw the earth in real terms, not artificial or imaginary. He lived life that way as well: clear-eyed, appreciative and optimistic, but grounded in what he knew. He will be remembered for his love of strawberry ice cream, his unrelenting attention to detail, and his many works of art that will be treasured for generations.

The family would also like to share their deepest gratitude and thanks to Sonia and Sloan for their patient and loving caregiving in their father’s final months.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in honorarium to his favorite charities.

Mailing to the Mills Chapter of The Sons of Utah Pioneers Scholarship Fund:

payable to “SUP Mills Chapter Scholarship Fund”

Vibert Kesler, President

SUP Mills Chapter

6300 South Oles Lane

Holladay, Utah 84121

Or an online donation can be made to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Aid Fund at:

https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschrist.org/humanitarian-services/

Viewing Friday from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 South Highland Drive.

Saturday viewing 10:00 - 10:45 am with Funeral at 11:00 AM at the Church on 2700 East & Evergreen Avenue.