Donald Milton Henriksen's Obituary
Holladay, Utah – Donald Milton Henriksen was born December 4, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Ora Milton Henriksen and Hazel (Southam) Henriksen. He passed away October 27, 2015 in Holladay, Utah due to Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. Don attended South High School and graduated from the University of Utah, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors' Degree in Banking and Finance. He married Dixie Rae Hatch and they had 3 children, 2 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. Don and Dixie were divorced after 20 years of marriage. Don remained unmarried for 20 years. During that time he developed friendships by joining activities sponsored by Parents Without Partners. Golf, bowling and dancing were his favorite PWP sponsored activities. Don's early childhood memories are of growing up on 8th East Street near Liberty Park. His Dad worked on the Railroad out of town so he went to the movies with his Mom and friend Bob Jack. He recalled the fun he had ice skating at Liberty Park, fishing and playing in neighborhood baseball and football games with Bob Jack, Wayne Bell and Ferrall William (Corkie) Kirk. Don was grateful for the Boy Scouts because they served as a very important part of his character development in his youth. Don grew up during WWII and he talked about supporting the war effort by collecting rubber, metal and buying war bonds. He owned a Doodle Bug scooter until he was old enough to buy a car. He said that it cost 10 cents to fill the tank and two could ride except when going up hill.
Don demonstrated his talent for music as a 4 year old, when his family would stand him up on the kitchen table and he would sing the current hit parade of songs from memory.
Don loved recalling and singing songs from the 30's and 40's and he was very fond of classical music as well and could identify the names of classical pieces played as background music in current movies.
In grade school Don sold newspapers on the corner of the Hotel Utah. He recalled receiving $1 for a 5 cent newspaper from the famous heavy weight boxer, Buddy Bear. In High School he earned money collecting stray golf balls with his friend Cecil Bohn and Don also sold tied flies for fishing. At age 16 he began is life long career as a hot metal typographer. He worked for the Utah Printing Company, Deseret News, University of Utah and he owned Alphabet Printing with Wayne Bell and Pat Kavanah for 3 years until the unexpected death of Wayne. Don eventually began working solo from his home. He retired from Hot Metal Typesetting at the age of 70 when he learned that he had Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Don loved is profession and worked on some notable publications: Dialogue, Journal of Mormon Thought, Tanner Lecture Series, Florentine Codex (Aztec Language Translation Text by Charles Dibble and Arthur J.O. Anderson), Mormon Bibliography and many historical works and family history books.
Dancing became the final passion in Don's life. He seemed to have a photographic memory for dance steps and he developed a very high level of skill for all forms of ballroom dance. It was on the dance floor that Don met his second wife, Judith (Hackleman) Eickemeyer. They celebrated 20 years of marriage and continued dancing at the Murray Arts Centre throughout their marriage. Don loved to teach dancing and while a bachelor, he would teach girls to dance in exchange for food, he never accepted money for his private dance lessons. Don hated to cook, thought it was a waste of time.
Don did not like to do anything that needed doing over such as cooking, laundry, shopping. So with regard to the laundry, as a bachelor, he made sure that he had enough clean clothing so that he would need to go to the laundromat only 2x a year. Don was eccentric and lots of fun. He loved life and filled it with dancing, movies and building projects. He will be missed for so many reasons.
Don is survived by his wife Judith, step daughter Larissa (Eickemeyer) Rodriguez, (Douglas) step grandchildren: Evan and Selena Rodriguez, sons Donald and Perry Henriksen, daughter Suzi Bradley, grandchildren: Somer (Bradley) Erichsen, Jared Bradley (Kelsey), great grandchildren: Leif Bradley, Avery Erichsen, and Ruby Erichsen. Don is also survived by his sister Carol Garcia, her children Don's nephews and nieces: Stephen Eichbauer, Travis Woodward, Kirsten Co and her children, Don's great niece Sierra Co, also great nephew, Ethan Co.
Special thank you to St. Mark's Hospital, Utah Cancer Specialists and Quality Hospice for their kindness and care of Don during his illness. Susan Wright also swooped in just at the right moment to provide prepared food and a much needed shopping trip for supplies. Don was able to stay at home through out the 8 weeks of home care thanks to the wonderful Hospice team and the support Judy received from her brother John Hackleman and his wife Julia. They moved in to help with Don's care. Thank you to all the friends and relatives who sent their words of support and offered prayers on Don's behalf during his brief 5 month illness. These gifts of prayer truly sustained us during this stressful/tender/intense time of life.
There are no funeral services or viewing planned. Cremation and final resting place will be in a beautiful urn in the home that Don loved so much. Memorial service/Celebration of life to be announced at a later date.
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