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Ole Leo Christensen, 72, of Mesa, Arizona; passed away July 17, 2013. He was an Area Manager for Cargill and loved to read, loved his family and loved to serve others. Ole is survived by his wife: Joyce; Children: Christine, Kevin, Jennifer, Emily, Dale, Paul, Peter, Sarah and their spouses; 21 Grandchildren and 4 Great Grandchildren. A visitation will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, Friday, July 19, 2013 at Bunker’s University Chapel, 3529 E. University Dr. in Mesa. Funeral Services will be held at 1:30 PM, Saturday, July 20, 2013 with a visitation at starting at 12:00 Noon; at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3440 S. Signal Butte Rd. in Mesa.

JOHNSON, W.C. (Bill) Command Sgt. Major, Ret., age 84, passed away July 13, 2013. He was born to William F. and Felcia Johnson, June 28, 1929 in Sikeston, MO. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother William Johnson, a sister Lillie Klein, and three daughters: Patricia Anne Johnson, Karen Lynne Levi, and Kathleen Shakespeare. He is survived by his wife of 62 years Vernetta Johnson. They were married December 2, 1950 in Hopkinsville, Ky. He is also survived by his son David W. Johnson (Ralle’t), seven grandchildren: Christopher Levi, Julianne Levi, Matthew and Daniel Shakespeare, Joshua, Samantha, and Megan Johnson, three great grandchildren: Jaydon and Jack Greene, and Tyler Shakespeare. Bill joined the Army in 1946, part of the time served in the 11th Airborne. After his retirement from the Army in 1969, he worked for the City of Tempe as Customer Service Supervisor until 1990. Funeral services will be Monday, July 22, 2013 at 10 AM, preceded by a visitation at 9 AM at the LDS Del Rio Ward, 1871 E. Del Rio Dr, Tempe, AZ. Arrangements by Bunker’s Garden Chapel.

Carmen Miranda Halsey, 71, passed away July 13, 2013. Visitation will be Monday, July 22, 2013 from 10 AM to 12 noon at Bunker’s Garden Chapel, 33 N. Centennial Way, Mesa 85201.

Abigail Goss finished her mortal mission on July 15, 2013. She aced this test and graduated early at the age of 4 years old. Despite years of fighting cancer, doctor and hospital visits, and travel, Abigail was a joy. She left this life, to continue on in the next, peacefully in her home in Mesa, AZ exactly 2.5 years from her cancer diagnosis.

Abigail loves animals (all kinds), the zoo, carousels, Barney and friends, music and singing, being told stories, and absolutely loved playing with her siblings. She loved healthy food “with no butter and no milk and no cheese and no candy” (allergic to dairy). She loved her mommy’s hair and it was constantly at her disposal.

She is survived by her daddy and mommy, Aaron and Annabeth, her older brother Hyrum, her older sisters Mary, Elisabeth, and Rachel, and both sets of grandparents Robert and Connie Goss from American Fork UT and Melvin and Sonya Ray from Vernal UT.

A public viewing will be held Thursday, July 18, 2013, from 6:00-8:00 pm at the LDS Hillside Ward, 1430 North Grand, Mesa, 85201. The funeral will be held Friday, July 19, 2013, at 10:00 am with a viewing at 9:00 am at the same location. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Bunker’s Garden Chapel, 33 N Centennial Way, Mesa AZ 85201.

Abigail influenced many people during her mortal life–teaching us about enduring love, happiness, patience and forgiveness, hope, and deeper faith. She has a stronger testimony of Christ than we’ll ever comprehend on this earth. She will be fiercely missed, but our reunion will be pure joy and compensate for our temporary separation. We know her spirit is busy now, teaching others about the joy and love that comes from knowing Christ.

Erma Whiting Grant (1918-2013) was born in St. Johns, Arizona. The child of Pioneers Edwin Isaacson Whiting and Ethel Farr Whiting and sister to Farr (Mel), Melba (Sherwood), Virgil (LaVelle), Merwin and Lee. All have predeceased her. She was born into a world just ending its first global war. A world engulfed in a pandemic more viral and more lethal than any since the days of the bubonic plague. 20,000,000 people died from the Spanish Flu that winter. She was spared. Spared to live a life of great endowment with her eternal and extraordinary sweetheart Darwin D. Grant. Now nine and a half decades after her birth her posterity is her Opus, her communion with friends is her everlasting joy and her eternal union with Darwin D. Grant (1938) in the Salt Lake Temple with a pronouncement of marriage by Church President Uncle Heber J. Grant is her crowning achievement. She attended BYU, graduated with honors from the LDS Business College. Her skills were legendary. A prolific letter writer and a skilled newspaper reporter, she for years wrote for the Arizona Republic and contributed local color articles to her home town newspaper the Independent News. She and Darwin served faithfully in many positions in the LDS church; they were temple workers for decades, full time missionaries in the City of Nauvoo, Illinois, and a bishop and a bishop’s wife. Those were times of great satisfaction and joy. She loved to dance, she loved to sing and she loved parties. With her sweetheart, she taught dance for five decades. They were dance directors for their stake, their ward and their region. She was the Miss America pageant director for Apache County for years. She found great joy in sports, especially ASU sports. She loved her Diamondbacks and her Suns. She memorized batting averages and ERAs and idolized Steve Nash. Her children knew they were loved without reserve or prejudice. They are Rita (Gary), Merwin (Charlotte), Howard (Irene), Ron (Keiko), and Robert (Jo). She has 22 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren. Her life as a spectator was full of recitals, plays, sports of every kind, band, orchestra performances and fun. That “Barbie Grammie

Tim Corley, 50 of Mesa, AZ left us peacefully on July 13 , 2013 in his home. Tim was a native of Niles, IL and long time employee of Johnson Controls. He is survived by his cherished wife Yanping “Ping

Kristine Kay Jackson, 65, passed away July 5, 2013 in Mesa, Arizona. Funeral services are Monday, July 15, 2013 at 10 AM, preceded by a visitation at 9 AM at Bunker’s Garden Chapel, 33 North Centennial Way, Mesa, 85201. Interment will follow at the City of Mesa Cemetery.

Helen McShane, 92, of Mesa, AZ died Friday, July 5, 2013. Helen was born in New York City, New York on December 9, 1920. She worked for AT&T for 15 years and lived in Mesa since 2005. During her time in Mesa, Helen volunteered at Red Mountain Senior Center. Patrick McShane, her beloved husband, predeceased her. She is survived by her daughter Ellen McShane and her husband, Paul O. Boisvert of Shelburne, VT; Pat Wallace and her husband, Bob Wallace, of Tucson, AZ; Kathleen Hawthorne and her husband, Steve Hawthorne of Mesa , AZ; and Brian McShane of Poughquag, NY. In addition, Helen is survived by her grandchildren and great grandchildren Matthew Wallace; Danielle Hampton, her husband Hank Hampton, and son Henry; Tim Wallace, Lauren Grant, her husband Abe Grant, and daughter Lucy; Ryan Wallace, Ben Wallace, and Daron McShane. A funeral mass will be celebrated at All Saints Roman Catholic Church, 1534 North Recker Road, Mesa, AZ on Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 10:00 AM. She will be greatly missed by her friends and family.

Janice B. Alquist, 77, of Mesa, AZ; passed away July 6, 2013. She was born on January 11, 1936 in Indiana, Pennsylvania; the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Merell T. Brummert. Janice graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in 1953 and went on to attend Robert Morris Secretarial School. After graduating, she was married to Clifford G. Alquist in 1955. Janice was a devoted sister, wife and mother. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1996. She is survived by four children: David, Mark, Daniel and Tracey; 5 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Service to be held at 4:00 PM, Thursday, July 11, 2013 at Bunker’s University Chapel 3529 E. University Dr., Mesa, Arizona 85213.

Marjory E. Keske, 92, of Phoenix, Arizona passed away July 6, 2013. A Visitation will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, Monday, July 15, 2013 at the 1st Southern Baptist Church of Phoenix, 3100 W. Camelback Rd. in Phoenix. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 AM, Tuesday, July 16th at the 1st Southern Baptist Church of Phoenix. Interment will follow at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 N. Cave Creek Rd, Phoenix, AZ.

On July 5th, 2013, Willard Harris “Bud

Robert Samuel Guthrie, “Sam

Robert T. Azuma, Col. USAF (ret) Fittingly for a patriot, Bob Azuma passed away on the evening of the 4th of July with the sounds of fireworks. Bob served 37 years in the U.S. Air Force, which included 9 years of enlisted time on active duty, in the reserve, and in the California Air National Guard. He received a rare direct-commission in 1964 and entered navigator training as a 2nd Lt. His Air Force career was varied with assignments in FL, TX, CA, NH, OH, MA and combat duty during the Vietnam War. It was in Vietnam that he was exposed to the Agent Orange herbicide, a possible cause of the lymphoma that took his life. Though he had lived in several places, he considered CA his home state. He was born in Los Angeles in 1937 to Fusayo and Hideo Azuma. His family was confined at Amache internment camp near Granada, CO during World War II when all Japanese-Americans were interned. After the war, the Azuma family moved to Chicago where Bob graduated from Hyde Park High School at age 16. Although he started college, he had dreams of flying and enlisted in the Air Force instead. He served as a flight mechanic and flight engineer. After his active duty tour ended, he remained in the AF reserve, moved to California and began working on a college degree. He was called back to active duty during the Berlin crisis in 1961. In Dec. of that year, he married Kayko Matsuura in Los Angeles during his holiday leave from his base in NH. He joined the California Air National Guard when he was released from active duty and returned to college, earning a BS at Calif. State University, LA. He later earned an MBA from Golden Gate University. He volunteered to serve in Southeast Asia in 1967 during the height of the Vietnam War. During his long career, his assignments included serving as a navigator training instructor; a program manager for flight simulator development; a squadron commander; the deputy base commander at Mather AFB, CA; the chief of staff to the commanding general at Hanscom AFB, MA; and the Director of Center Support at Vandenberg AFB, CA, his last assignment. He retired from the AF in May, 1991. Bob was a master navigator with over 4300 flying hours, including 695 combat sorties in Vietnam. His medals include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Achievement Medal, and 15 other decorations. He and Kay moved to Gilbert, AZ in 2002 to be near their daughter. He was a member of the Arizona Buddhist Temple, Arizona Chapter of JACL, AF Assn. He is survived by his wife, Kayko, son Brett and wife Coleen, daughter Tamiko and husband Steve Goldinger, grandsons Christopher, Michael and David Azuma, and Sam and Danny Goldinger, his sister Hiroko Miyakawa, niece, nephews, and great-nephews. Memorial service is at 10 a.m., Sat., July 13, at Bunker’s Garden Chapel, 33 North Centennial Way, Mesa. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Valley or a charity of your choice.

Irene Hall Garn, 72. After battling cancer for 4 years Irene passed away peacefully at home on July 2, 2013, with her husband of 51 years by her side. Irene was born on January 19, 1941, in Tremonton, Utah. She is preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Vera Hall and brothers Byron (Hazel) and Roland. She is survived by her sister-in-law Norma Hall and her three sisters Jean Stevenson (Evan), Norma Coombs (Theo), and Nadine Woodhead (Robert). She is also survived by her husband Daryl Hodges Garn, her children: Brad Garn (Laura), Dana Garry (Steve), Gayla Peterson (Chuck), Greg Garn (Rebecca), Byron Garn (Michelle), and Kevin Garn (Tara) along with 30 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren who all live in the Phoenix area. More than anything else Irene loved being a wife, mother and homemaker. She devoted her life to serving her family and serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many capacities. She spent 5 years serving with her husband in Hong Kong and an additional year and a half as the Mesa Arizona Temple Matron. She enjoyed writing family histories, documenting them with photos and publishing them. She was a wonderful example to all who knew her. Visitation is Friday, July 5, 2013 from 6-8 PM at Bunker’s Garden Chapel, 33 N. Centennial Way, Mesa 85201. Funeral services will be Saturday, July 6, 2013, at 10 AM, preceded by a visitation at 9 AM at the LDS Stake Center, 5350 E. McLellan, Mesa 85205. In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution to the general missionary fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/missionary/.

Carl Emmett Nischan, 53 years old born July 20, 1959 in Phoenix, AZ and passed away on Monday, June 17, 2013 in Tempe, AZ. Carl grew up in Mesa, AZ. He graduated from Mesa High School. He earned his Bachelor Degree through University of Phoenix and a Master Certificate through George Washington University. Carl was married to the Love of his life, Joanie Nischan. Carl loved living life, being with family and friends. Carl is survived by his Mother Josephine Noto Nischan, loving wife: Joanie; three sons: Jordan & wife Alisha, and their three children Anya, Parker and Marie; Son: Jameson, three daughters: Jacee, Carlee & husband Rick, and their four children Benjamin, Rylee, Emmalee and Laicee; Camee & husband Kory and their son Kleven. A Memorial Service was held Saturday June 22nd in Mesa, AZ. He was laid to rest at the Mesa Cemetery 1212 N. Center Street Mesa, Arizona 85201. A donation website was set up at gofundme.com. Cards may be mailed to 33508 NE 82nd Avenue La Center, WA 98629.

Georgia Ann “Becky