LaMark Jay Wignall returned to his heavenly home on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at the age of ninety-three.
Mark was born on February 4, 1928, in Salem, Utah, to Mark Elias and Mildred Lucille Warren Wignall. He cherished Salem and her citizens. He loved the childhood years that he spent there.
After graduating from Spanish Fork High School, he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Great Lakes Mission. He attended Brigham Young University where he graduated in Elementary Education. He taught school in Murray, Roosevelt, Kearns, Springville, and finished his career at Santaquin Elementary.
He joined the Army and served his allotted time at Fort Lewis, Washington. It was here where he met and fell in love with, Cleo Allred. After their marriage in the Salt Lake Temple, they grew their family to include 6 children, 25 grandchildren and 42 great grandchildren.
As much as Mark loved his students, he loved farming even more. Standing out in the middle of a field, with his plow, would cause him to yell out with joy. He reached for his dream, and retired from teaching, and went into the dairy farming business. He owned farms in West Mountain, Utah and Hammond, New York.
He loved West Mountain, animals, guns, hunting, scouting, ukuleles, harmonicas, singing, bread and milk. But most of all he loved his family, and his Heavenly Father.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Cleo Allred, and his son David Wignall, and sister, Orpha Hanks. He was also preceded in death by his second wife, Anna Andrus Kempton.
He is survived by his children: Paul (Mary) Wignall, Christa (Neil) Bushman, Owen Wignall, Kyle (Stephanie) Wignall, and Amy (Renvic) Erickson, and by his sisters, Dorcas Long, Joan Evans and brother, John Shortt.
We would like to offer our gratitude for the loving kindness and Christ-like service that Maple Creek Hospice provided. Thank you, Heather, Riley and Chantell. We would like to thank a dear friend, Dick Warnick for his attentive care and friendship towards our Dad. Thank you also to his daughter Christa for her loving care and companionship in her home the past 5 months.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 17, 2021 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, 789 Arrowhead Trail, Payson, Utah 84651. Family and friends will meet for a visitation from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment will be at the Payson City Cemetery.
2 Condolences for LaMark Jay Wignall
Condolences(2)
Brenda says
December 13, 2021 at 2:27 pmSo sorry for the loss of Lamark. He was a really kind man He was good friends with my mother that was also from Salem and they grew up together. She always talked highly of him.
Dan Farr says
December 14, 2021 at 6:33 pmThis comment may well get lost in the shuffle of all the other kind things, but I hope to you who are Lamark’s family that you are uplifted. I want to express my love for Lamark. I only knew Brother Wignal for a relatively short moment in his life, but it was at just the right time for me. He is one of the men God put in my path that uplifted and helped me as a young person.
In West Mountain during the mid 90’s there was at least one group of young men that challenged most gospel instructors. We had our challenges. Growing up is hard, and we didn’t make it easier on ourselves. I won’t rehearse the stupidity we perpetuated, but he helped me see that the restored gospel is for us and is a deep well of soul nourishing knowledge. Brother Wignal impressed on me that even in the midst of our poor decisions we were still loved and valued and there were important things we needed to understand. I had many simple and short interactions with Brother Wignal in and out of classrooms that let me see what a good man can be. An honest kind word, his unique smile, or a well timed handshake.
I’ll share one brief story. When I was a young boy scout, one year we decided to take a week long hiking trip to four lakes basin with Kelly Lewis and Ron H. We got permission to include a Sunday as part of the trip and Brother Wignal volunteered to go with us, he must have been in the Bishopric at the time. Two distinct memories. Most of the scouts were happy to fish and mess around. Kelly and Lamark rode horses and I took every chance I was offered to be on or around the horses. To feed and manage his young paint horse, Lamark hobbled her and turned her out on the deep lush grass next to where Kelly highlined his Arabians. One of the nights, this paint decided that this grass wasn’t as good as the grass in the next basin over. Yes, Brother Wignal was surprised when she wasn’t where he left her, but I will never forget his calm, even I dare say happy countenance, a little brighter once we saw tracks where she hopped away. I thought there was no way we’d ever find that horse. Turns out it wasn’t too hard to follow, the front feet made quite a mark as she punched along the soft ground. That was one of the most enjoyable rides I can remember as we looked for his horse and I’ll always treasure his committed, intense and joyful manner as we looked, he didn’t get mad when we found her or as we looked. That memory has helped me stay cool when things don’t go the way I wanted. Later that week he conducted our Sacrament meeting, and I think everyone, even those in our troop who haven’t renewed their covenants in a while, will remember just how sacred that time was. We felt the love of the Savior through what we did that day, here was a Man ordained of God with the proper authority who gave us the opportunity to draw nearer to Heaven with sacred ordinance. I learned important lessons about how the ordinance works, why we do it, and how wonderful it can be when administered properly.
Again, I hope this short memory will be of some value to you, it’s been good for me today to reflect and consider my personal experiences with Lamark. I treasure the experiences and memories I was privileged to share with him.