Melvin Deloy Pack's Obituary
Melvin Deloy Pack (Deloy) passed away peacefully in his home in Provo, Utah surrounded by family on December 20, 2024. He was 88. Named after the apostle Melvin J. Ballard, and after an uncle, Deloy Heppler (who passed away at age 3), he was born on May 23rd, 1936, in Los Angeles, California, the third child of Wesley Malin and Helen Heppler Pack. His parents were both Utah-born members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with a farming background. Wes’s family had moved from Kamas to California for health reasons, and Helen, raised near Richfield, had traveled out to Hollywood with a dream of using her talents in music theater.
During Deloy’s childhood, the family lived in a home in Sherman Oaks designed by Helen that was around the corner from Hollywood. Wes landscaped the yard, as he, with a brother, ran a local plant nursery that numbered movie stars among the customers. It was intensive work, and many’s the weed Deloy got paid to pull from an early age starting at 25 cents an hour. He spent more time at the nursery than playing at home, he said, but he managed to foster his natural bent for bird watching by building, with his big brother, a home-made blind, and by collecting nests. With his siblings, Deloy enjoyed swimming at the neighbors’ pool and making paths in the long grass of the field beyond their house.
It took some years for Deloy to discover his innate talent for learning. After graduating valedictorian from Van Nuys High School, he chose to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was called to Northern Mexico. He was a conscientious missionary and put in a vast amount of good service, keeping precise records. He learned to love Mexican music and the guitar, and came home with a clipped mustache and a healthy tan.
Upon his return, Deloy finished his B.Sc. degree at U.C.L.A., but he wasn’t satisfied with
Chemistry as a career and veered instead towards Biblical studies at B.Y.U. His parents helped him spend two years at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where his Hebrew blossomed. A desire to trace familiar Old Testament stories, such as Noah’s Ark, in other ancient Middle-Eastern languages (where only the names differed) . . . broadened his field of study towards all of Mesopotamia. He decided to pursue a doctorate in Assyriology, adding more to the long list of languages he was able to work in over his lifetime. After Jerusalem, he followed the journeyings of Paul, traveling west on his big motor scooter, then motored north up Italy to the University of Vienna, Austria, where an in-depth study of German would contribute to his doctorate.
It was during his year at Vienna that Deloy met and became engaged to Alison Turner, a new convert from Scotland working at the British Embassy. They crossed the Alps together on the motor scooter and from England, took off for Provo, Utah, where Deloy was to complete his M.A. in Old Testament Studies at B.Y.U. His thesis, Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon, became a popular study.
Deloy and Alison married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 1st, 1971. Five wonderful children were born to them: Nikkala (Darren Thomson), Benjamin (Christine Moss), Jonathan (Preeti Mudaliar), Roger (Melissa Jackson) and Carolyn (Brandon Hardy). Deloy is the first of his immediate family to pass away, and, at the time of his passing, had 19 grandchildren and three grandchildren-in-law.
The family lived in Orem, Benjamin, and Wallsburg, Utah, as well as spending eventful years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Deloy completed his doctorate with a 700-page dissertation. When appointed to teach Hebrew at BYU, Deloy’s teaching was thorough and effective. Students were grateful for his painstaking assistance, and, out of the depth of his knowledge in the Old Testament, he made sure throughout his life to always provide a thoughtful and accurate answer to any related question. Deloy’s testimony, with full faith in Jesus Christ and His Restored Church, never wavered.
A birdwatcher from his youth, Deloy was blessed to be able to pursue this interest wherever he went, amassing a life list of 548 species observed in a great number of different locations including Israel (when leading an intensive Hebrew class), Haiti, Florida and Central America (during his and Alison’s mission). He utilized the extensive sheds that came as part of the Provo property to showcase some of the world’s most colorful feathers. A Deloy hallmark was his passion for what he called “gentleman farming,” involving raising a wide variety of farm animals, fruits and honey-bees, and having fun sharing all this with his children and grandchildren.
Dad and Grandpa, we love and miss you! ‘Til We Meet Again!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89407649387?pwd=VZQ8b8LIWfxlUDbAK9aMuaqqRn6MSY.1
What’s your fondest memory of Melvin?
What’s a lesson you learned from Melvin?
Share a story where Melvin's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Melvin you’ll never forget.
How did Melvin make you smile?