James Moroni Carroll

James Moroni Carroll was born 19 Sep 1921, in Heber City, Utah. He passed away 31 March 2016 from the effects of old age. His last words were, “I’m dying but it’s OK.” Except for the years that World War II took him to the South Pacific as a member of the U.S. Army, he never left the valley. His parents were George and Sarah Casper Carroll. His siblings were Casper Carroll, Etheawin Spencer, Elizabeth Reese, Jean Hardman and John Carroll. Jim was the last surviving child in the family. As a child the doctors predicted he wouldn’t make it to 10; so poor was his health; but they underestimated his determination to live a long life. His treasured childhood friends included Bob Duke, Glade and Howard Jorgensen and Bob Turner. He loved his peers in the high priests group for many years. Most are gone now.

He grew up working hard on the farm. He experienced the Great Depression first hand. They were incredibly poor. He graduated from Wasatch High School; Class of 1939. Shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed he was on his way to war in the South Pacific sailing out under the Golden Gate Bridge. While standing for inspection on a flight line in 1943 in Bougainville, he shook hands with Eleanor Roosevelt who sent a note to his mother when she returned to the U.S. A few days after the Japanese surrendered in 1945 Jim came out of a café in Manila, Philippines and ran head-on into his oldest brother, Cap, who he didn’t know was dead or alive. “We danced in the streets!” he said. They wondered about their younger brother, John, who also came home safely from Europe. During the war he became close friends to Bull Dawson and Harold White, who he wrote to religiously until their deaths a few years ago. Those young enlisted guys served in New Caledonia, Bougainville, the Philippines and on Guadalcanal. He participated in the bloodiest three-day battle ever, in the South Pacific, known as Bloody Ridge, Sep 1942.

After the war Jim worked in the Ontario mine in Park City and mines in Ely, NV. He later worked at Geneva Steel in Orem. He then made his living for most of his adulthood as a skilled carpenter. He worked for decades in Salt Lake and Provo on a construction crew employed by Christiansen Brothers. They built many buildings in Salt Lake and Utah counties. He often drove to work with Reed and Ray Gertsch and considered other construction workers as great friends and working partners; Bishop Dean Bethers, Bob McDonald and Afton Thacker, who joined him on other jobs. All are now gone from mortality.

In the early summer of 1960 a friend introduced him to Bessie Fish, then living as a widow with six children, in St. George. They were married on New Year’s Eve 1960, in Elko, NV. Nearly two years later their daughter, Catherine, was born. Jim was now involved with seven children after living to 40 as a confirmed bachelor. When school was out in 1961 Bessie and her children moved to Heber City to occupy a new brick home on 400 East. Jim has resided there ever since. He and his friends built the home and he was very proud of their workmanship.

Jim liked to fish and hunt in his earlier days. He loved good music – especially if his wife or daughters were playing the piano. He loved to read. He loved history and geography … and knew a lot about those subjects. He is the off-spring of Carroll Founding Fathers in Maryland. His great-grandfather William Wallace Casper was a member of the Mormon Battalion. He loved to go for rides and would reminisce about what used to be here and there as the ride unfolded. He was a living encyclopedia as it related to Wasatch County. His mind remained sharp and clear to the end.

After retirement from construction he worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 25 years; mostly out in Strawberry or in Daniels Canyon. He made many young friends on that job and enjoyed himself immensely. Since Aug 1996, when Bessie died, he has lived alone with all kinds of love and help from his daughter, Raneva, and her family; true family champions. Ashley came back to Heber a few years ago and he and Marie have been most helpful, as well, in these last few years...as have grandchildren living in the valley. For some years he has enjoyed lunch at the Senior Citizens Center where he was always amongst friends.

Jim was a man of his word. He possessed a killer sense of humor. He helped repair and build many things, for many people, as a home teacher and neighbor. He was honest. He knew how to work. He loved to be at home. He became Grandpa Carroll to 30 grandchildren and has now enjoyed the circumstances of the host of great-grandchildren born into the family.

In the past several years, as his health declined, other friends were made. He loved Cassie and Kaylee from Encompass Home Care and he also received good company and treatment at the Rocky Mountain Care Center. The family is most grateful to each of those who cared for him tenderly and with respect.

He is survived by his children, Leon (Connie Lewis), Ashley (Marie Bennett), Jon B (Shauna Atkinson), Raneva (John Lemon), Howard (Vickie Cunningham) and Catherine (Jerry Van Leuven). The youngest son, Kevin, pre-deceased him. Many surviving nieces and nephews also call him Uncle Jim.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, 9 April 2016 in the Heber 7th Ward meetinghouse, at 11:00 am. There will be a viewing Friday, 8 April 2016 at the Heber 7th Ward Chapel 6:00 to 8:00 and 10:00 to 10:45am before Funeral services. Burial will take place in the Heber City Cemetery with Military Honors provided by American Legion Lockhart Post 23.