Ferrell Glade Roundy
January 26, 1933 — February 21, 2011
Ferrel Glade Roundy, age 78, returned peacefully to his Heavenly Father on February 21, 2011, with family members and friends at his bedside. He had valiantly dealt with serious illness for the past few years. Ferrel was born January 26, 1933, in Escalante, Utah, to Alda Schow and Wallace Glade Roundy. He lived most of his youth with his grandparents, Joseph Ira and Leatha Porter Schow, in Escalante. Ferrel graduated from Escalante High School with honors and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English and Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University. He served for two-and-a-half years in West Germany as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and three years in the U.S. Army, two of those years also in Germany. During his military service in Germany, his mother, Alda Schow Cardon passed away on September 24, 1954.
Ferrel married Heidi Axman in the Salt Lake Temple on November 18, 1960. They had four children and lived in Lawrence, KA, and Terra Haute, IN, as he pursued his PhD. After completing his PhD, he and Heidi moved to Taft, CA, where they raised their family. Ferrel taught at Taft College from July of 1966 until his retirement in May of 2001.
Ferrel and Heidi divorced in 1983. He then married Carol Joy Shirts, they later divorced. He then married Nancy Shurtz Krough.
Ferrel is survived by his and Heidi’s children, Lora Lee (Mark) Bell of Bakersfield, CA, and their children, Nickolas, Christopher, and Shaylee; Quinn Ferrel Roundy of Bakersfield, CA; Kara Lyn Roundy of Salt Lake City, UT; Dr. Darryl William (Carrie) Roundy of Gig Harbor, WA, and their children, Emma and Will; a brother, Paul Michael (Karen) Cardon of Ithaca, NY; brothers-in-law, Mike Stojakovich and Samite Mulando; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews;. He is preceded in death by his mother and father; sisters, LaDean Stojakovich, and Joan Cardon Wagner Mulando.
In addition to his teaching, Ferrel was a prolific writer of fiction and poetry. He published eight novels, two volumes of facts, history, and humor about his hometown of Escalante, UT, and literally hundreds of poems, sonnets, and free verse. He also enjoyed music and penned numerous song lyrics, many of a religious nature. He also served in many "callings" in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ferrel loved the Escalante area in southern Utah and dreamed of someday building a small, comfortable home and retiring there. He hoped to spend his last years re-discovering many of the beautiful and scenic places from his younger years of wandering and wondering. Unfortunately, his health deteriorated soon after he retired, and he was unable to fulfill his retirement dream. He has acquired a gravesite in the Escalante Cemetery next to that of his mother. It will serve as his final resting place.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 101 Church Street, Taft, California. Services will be under the direction of Bishop Gary Ammeraal. Additional funeral services will be held Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. in the Escalante 1
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LDS Ward Chapel, where friends may call to visit with the family from 12:00 to 12:45. Interment will be in the Escalante Cemetery with military rites by the Escalante American Legion Post. Funeral Directors, Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti.