Harrison Eldon Maughan's Obituary
Harrison Eldon Maughan
December 13th 1928 through August 9th 2021
Harrison Eldon Maughan born December 13, 1928 to William Harrison Adamson Maughan and Ardis Elizabeth Wright Maughan in Glendale, CA.
This amazing man and hero to many, returned to his Lord God Jesus Christ and his Father in Heaven. Eldon’s truest gift to each of us, was his example. He taught us to love our families, especially our spouses, through his constant love for his beautiful wife, Venita. He showed us how to love and serve God with all our hearts, unconditionally. He had many church callings in his life, each faithfully filled. Eldon enjoyed singing with Mendelssohn Male Chorus for many years and serving in the temple. He worked hard and did his best in all he did and expected us to do the same. He loved farming, gardening, horses (any movie with horses or John Wayne had to be worth watching), fixing and building things and serving others. He loved his Savior. He was the quintessential story teller. He could always enrich a lesson with a real life example that the listener would never forget. He had a very busy guardian angel growing up and learned to be an angel to others because of it. He grew up working hard on his father’s ranch. At a very early age he slept with his older brother Rex in a bunkhouse with no electricity and without any source of warmth with the exception of blankets in the cold winters of western Montana. His first five dollars he earned was spent totally on gloves and socks. No candy for him! After serving a successful Western States Mission from the years 1949-1951 he worked at various ranches and dated a variety of available young women. He had to expand his range to find the right girl. His quest brought him to Lewiston, Idaho in search of THE one. There his arduous searching was rewarded when he met Venita Seipert at the local ward meeting house. He married his eternal companion of 68 years, Venita Dolly Seipert Maughan, June 3, 1953, in the Idaho Falls LDS temple. They met at church. Eldon said “When I first met Venita I was staying with my Aunt May and Uncle Warner. It was the first Sunday. We walked in the church and the foyer was full of girls. They all watched as Dale and I came in. They introduced themselves and they visited with us. I talked to most of the girls, they talked a lot about high school. When I talked to Venita, (I didn’t know her name then) she talked about working at J.C. Penny’s in the shoe department. She acted older, I thought well she is old enough that she graduated from high school. I never said anything but in my mind that was the way it went. She asked me to talk at a Fireside Program. Our first date was Saturday, October 4th, 1952. I worked at Potlatch Forest. I started to go into JC Penny when I wasn’t working throughout the week and she wasn’t there. I didn’t know her name to ask for her. I just knew who I wanted to date. I went in on Saturday and she was there. She was busy with a customer trying on shoes. Pretty soon she saw me. She hurried and finished with her customer. We talked and visited a little bit and I asked her for a date. She said ‘I’m a bridesmaid tonight at a wedding.’ I picked her up and took her to the wedding and came back about a half hour later and the church was all dark. I circled around until I saw a light and a bunch of cars. Venita came out and we went to a show later. Venita’s parents had gone to General Conference and anyway she invited me over for dinner the next day. Her sisters and brothers helped Venita cook. Her brothers and sisters treated me so great, and they were so polite. They called me Eldon, I kept listening for her name but they didn't say it. We went on a second date the next weekend and I still didn’t know her name. I think someone at church finally said it. I also figured out her father's name. Then I knew that she was Venita Seipert. She cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes and what else I don’t remember but it was the best meal I’d had since leaving home. When Dolly (Venita's mother) found out that we were dating, she said “she had the feeling that Venita was going to marry me.”
Eldon taught his daughters to dance while standing on his feet. Eldon and Venita helped their daughters learn the Charleston, the Foxtrot, Swing and more. He taught us to work by his side. He taught us to love by his example and dedication to the Lord.
He worked in the construction field most of his life, working many years on LDS Church buildings. He retired after 14 years with Provo City as a Building Inspector at the age of 78. He worked on churches in: Pullman, WA (while living in Lewiston, ID);Tacoma, WA; Missoula MT; Moscow,ID; Gooding, ID; Pasco,WA; Shreveport, LA; Santa Clara, CA; San Rafael, CA; Hayward, CA; Aurora (Denver), CO; Bakersfield, CA; Foster City, CA; Chicago Temple (IL); Studio City (Burbank), CA. It all started when he went to work for his Father-in-law, Cleon Seipert.
One of his favorite little poems that his Mother, Ardis used to say and he remembered was:
As a beauty I’m no star, there are others handsomer by far.
My face, I don’t mind it, cause I’m the one behind it.
It's people out in front that get the jar.
Eldon went to school early so he could be with his big brother Rex and was great friends with his sister Verla and scolded a fellow classmate for saying something mean about her. He saved his little sister Rita from a run away team of horses. He used Evelyn as a pillow or ‘Piddow’. Myrna remembers how much her brothers loved her and treated her with kindness and love. Eldon broke his collarbone when his six year old brother, Wayne, was driving the hay truck and he was tossed off the back. He made a toboggan out of junk so that he and his little brothers, Gerald, Mark, LaMont and Wayne could sled down a steep hill together. None of their friends would go and called it the ‘Killer Hill’. When he got home from his mission his brothers lined up to see if they could beat him up yet. They figured he had gone soft. But they couldn't get the better of him.
Places he lived:
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Glendale California – Born December 13th 1928
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Browning Montana – Indian Reservation
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Charlo Montana
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Ronan Montana - Ranch
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Mission – Western States Mission
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Lewiston Idaho
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Hermiston Oregon
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Missoula Montana
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Lewiston Idaho
- Tacoma Washington
- Missoula Montana
- Moscow Idaho
- Gooding Idaho
- Pasco Washington
- Shreveport Louisiana
- Santa Clara California
- San Rafael California
- Hayward California
- Aurora Colorado – Lived in Alaska for a while working during this time.
- Bakersfield California
- Foster City California
- Orem Utah
- Provo Utah
- Burbank California
- Provo Utah
He is survived by four of his nine siblings:
Gerald Maughan (Janice)
LaMont Maughan (Charlotte)
Myrna Maughan Varga (Ted deceased)
Evelyn Maughan Cheney (Mel)
He is preceded in death by five of his siblings:
William Rex Maughan (Julia deceased)
Verla Ardis Maughan Reynolds (Russell deceased)
Rita Wright Maughan Porter (Kay deceased)
Wayne Wright Maughan (Geraldine)
Mark Wright Maughan (Ruth)
Four Daughters:
Linda Shirlene Maughan Kump Harding (Jerry deceased 8/9/2014, Ken)
Phyllis Venita Maughan Stock (Rick)
Loretta Elizabeth Maughan Shepherd (David)
Cheryl Ann Maughan Thompson (Robert)
22 Grandchildren and 69 Great Grandchildren to date:
Leslie and Danny Foltz (Samuel, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Abigail)
Jeff and Marcie Kump (Landon, Blake)
Craig and Liz Kump (Madison deceased, Natalie deceased, Kaitlyn, Hailey,
Brycen, Zander)
Shirlene and Dave Harris (Jonathan, Sarah, Gordon, Henry, Amelia)
Kristin and Jason Peterson (Lydia, Luke, Lacey, Joseph, Jameson)
Jake and Judy Stock (James, Jaren, Sierra, Sydney, Jonah, Jack)
Ben and Nichole Stock (Ellie, Olivia, Ava, Garrett)
Heidi and Ryan Rose (Emma, Jackson, Max, Dominic)
Katie and John Burton (Jacquelyn, Johnny)
Michael and Becca Stock
Nathan and Mari Shepherd (Isabelle, Kaya, Harrison, Evie)
Nicole and Dustin Hinton (Conner, Spencer)
Matthew and Chelsea Shepherd (Katherine, Gideon, Adam, Ephraim)
Jessica and Carter Castaneda (Samuel, Noah, Joel, Alexandra, Aaron)
Sarah and Ben Bowling (Levi, Lilly, Riley)
David and Laura Shepherd (Jack)
Joshua and Megan Shepherd (Timothy)
Candace and Kenneth Crowther (Aliza, Emma, Ammon, Eldon, Aurelia,
Hyrum deceased)
Brittany and Kole Bowman (Ellis, Asher, Kale and Perrin)
Cody Thompson
Elizabeth (Lizzey) and Cody Watts (Waylon)
Esther Jo Thompson
Services will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2801 West 620 North. Viewing will be Friday 13th of August at 9:30 am and Funeral 11:00 am followed by dedication of the grave site at Provo City Cemetery and luncheon at the Church.
invitation for the live Zoom stream: https://zoom.us/j/91880791570...
Link for YouTube: https://youtu.be/iTcevWSl5xI
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