Mourning the Passing of Friends: Forthcoming Funeral Service

"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. 

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

~ Helen Keller

DARRELL HOLDEN

Darrell Clifford Holden, age 82, from Vernon, Utah, passed away peacefully at his home with his sweetheart at his side on February 9, 2022. 

Darrell was born August 31, 1939, in American Fork, Utah to Clifford Henry Holden and Lillie May Heaps. He attended school in Provo and Payson, including Peteetneet Elementary where he walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways. He graduated in the class of 1957 from Payson High School. Dad went to work in Southeastern Utah, mining uranium and after, joined the United States Navy in 1958. He served ion the USS Nereus, a Fulton class submarine tender stationed out of San Diego, California for 2 years. Then he spent 2 more years stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a member of Guided Missile unit 10. It was there he was trained as an electrician and acquired his lifelong love of pineapples, stolen or otherwise. Darrell was honorably discharged in 1962 and came home where he went to work for the Bureau of Land Management on the West Desert of Utah. One weekend he was asked to go to a ranch in the area to help out at a cattle branding. That is where one of the great love stories in history began. He met Patricia Ekker and fell head over 6’ 4’’ heels for her. He immediately stopped going home on weekends and spent every minute away from work “helping: the Ekkers. Finally, his parents showed up to see if he was dead or just in love! Darrell and Patsy married on September 12, 1964, in Payson, Utah. They were later sealed together with their 3 little sons in the Manti Temple in 1978. They moved to Vernon in 1969 and have left a rich legacy in our little town. Darrell served as president of Vernon Water Works for 48 years. Under his stewardship, Vernon Water Works went from a redwood tank and wooden pipelines to a state-of-the-art system. This now includes fire protection and a 150,000-gallon storage tank. He worked as an electrician and a miner throughout his life. Places of employment include the Burgin, Trixie, Water Lily, Apex, Dragon and Anaconda mines. He then went to work asa high voltage lineman at Dugway Proving Grounds until he retired in 2006. 

His work ethic is legendary! When he was laid off from Anaconda, he worked building fences and corrals for Vernon cattlemen associations. He cut hundreds of cedar posts and hauled them over the mountain on his old international truck. He worked for Jim Ekker and Don Gowans calving their cowherds. When Sam Kay was injured, dad even took care of the church ranch for him until he could recover. He made friends easily and knows people far and wide. If you don’t like dad, it says a lot more about you than him! He especially loved kids. Almost every picture we found of dad has one or two or a dozen kids in it. They loved him and he loved them. He was over the moon about every grandkid. All 7 have an extraordinary relationship with Grandpa Holden. They all know him and love him and have no doubt they are his favorite. He loved his nieces and nephews and their kids just as much. What a joy it was to see dad spending time visiting with a kid!

Darrell was a cowboy and was a top hand in any group. He knew cattle and how to handle them. He passed his love of ranching along to his family. He was a wonderful hunter too. Or maybe, to be more correct, he was a wonderful packer. He shot some exceptional deer, antelope, elk, and turkeys. But he packed out on his horse a heck of a lot more- and loved doing it!

Darrell is survived by his sweetheart and wife, Patsy Ekker Holden of Vernon, Utah. Children, Darrell E. Holden (Angie) of Vernon, Darren R. Holden (Stefanie) of Vernon, Richard C. Holden (Amanda) or Monroe, Utah. Grandchildren, Tyson R. Holden (Bailey) of Vernon, Ashley B. Holden of Vernon, Brayden R. Holden of Cedar City, Utah, MaKenzie R. Holden of Monroe, Ryder M. Holden of Monroe, Hailey C. Holden of Vernon, and Dalton E. Holden of Vernon.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Clifford Henry Holden (Lillie May Holden) his siblings, Sharron, Sherril, Boyd, and Cloyd Holden. 

Service for Darrell will be Wednesday, February 16th, 2022, at the Vernon Ward Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel, which is located on Main Street in Vernon. Funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. with a prior viewing from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. There will be a viewing Tuesday, February 15th, 2022, at Tate Mortuary in Tooele, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Interment will be at the Vernon Cemetery directly after the funeral. Luncheon will be served at the Vernon church building following the interment. 

The family would like the send out a special thank you to the staff at Tate Mortuary for their exemplar service to our family and our father. We would also like to thank the Vernon Fire Department and EMT’s, the Stockton EMT’s, and the Tooele City EMT’s, as well as the Tooele County Sherriff’s office. We want to acknowledge the fine team of doctors and nurses at the VA, the Payson Hospital, and Spanish Fork Clinic. Their care for dad was world class.

We appreciate the love and support received from family, friends, and the community. You have truly blessed our lives and given us strength. 

“The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life” -Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.