Gary Kerwin Kemp

Gary Kerwin Kemp - beloved husband, father and grandfather - passed away peacefully on Sunday July 22, 2018 while surrounded by his loving family. Gary was born to Gilbert and Marvalee in La Mesa, California on December 6, 1951. He studied geology at Cal State Fullerton and served in the New England States mission for the LDS church. He met Rebekah - his loving wife and eternal companion - at a softball game in 1973 and it was love at first sight. After a few weeks they were engaged and were married in the Salt Lake Temple the following year. Throughout their 44 years of marriage, Gary and Rebekah raised 10 children: Philip, Daniel, Sherrie, Rosie, April, Karina, Arthur, John, Peter, and Albert. They were grandparents of soon-to-be 17 grandchildren and welcomed 5 foreign exchange students into their home. He loved having the family over to celebrate holidays, birthdays or anything that involved spending time with his large family. He was always very proud of his children and everything they had accomplished, but he was also willing to help his kids out when needed. He taught them to work and together they accomplished many projects around the home. Gary was great at fixing things and was a hard worker throughout his life. He was in Utah fighting forest fires the summer that he met Rebekah and after getting married he worked at the Huntsman Container Corp. in California before transferring to Tennessee. In 1980 the family moved to Utah where Gary worked at Deseret Dairy Products. For the next 28 years he worked with bacterial cultures in the lab there until he retired due to his declining health. Gary was eager to return to work and several years into retirement he began pulling camping trailers all over the country in an effort to travel more. During his life Gary and Rebekah were able to visit 49 states as well as Canada, Scandinavia, Russia, Costa Rica, Tahiti and the Bahamas. He especially loved visiting national parks, historical sites and anywhere he could practice photography. Pictures of their many adventures filled several photo albums and were displayed around the family home. Gary loved cats (much like his mother) as well as fish, the latter leading to his maintaining an enormous, 240 gallon salt water fish tank for many years. He enjoyed sports such as basketball and football and watching movies, but spent a lot of his time reading; he was known to carry a book around with him whenever he went out. Gary has been reunited with his father and mother with his passing, and will be remembered fondly by those who loved him. Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 28, 2018, 11:00 a.m., at the Mountain View Stake Center, 9000 South 2901 West. Viewings will be held Friday, July 27th, 6-8:00 p.m. at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 South Redwood Road and again at the church prior to services on Saturday from 10-10:45 a.m. Interment, West Jordan City Cemetery. Place of Birth:La Mesa, CaliforniaPlace of Death:West Jordan, Utah