Notable Utah deaths of 2018: From a church president to a goth to a billionaire and ‘Mr. Liquor’

There was a football coach called “The Creetch,” for the way he would pace around Brigham Young University at night.

An actor played a children’s character named Cannonball. A Salt Lake City goth inspired a comic book character called Death of the Endless.

There was a race car driver known as “Terrible Terry.” One Marine was a Code Talker.

A governor’s husband was called the “first lad.” One of the men who worked for that governor was “Mr. Liquor.”

Then there was the man known as the prophet, seer and revelator to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dozens of other Utahns — or people with Utah connections — with titles like mayor, officer, coach, director, advocate or the reverend died in 2018 after leaving some kind of mark on the state.

Here is a list of notable Utah deaths of 2018. Click the links or scroll through the gallery above to learn more about each person.

Ron Abegglen • As coach of the Weber State University men’s basketball team, Abegglen and the Wildcats won three conference titles and scored huge upsets in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and 1999. Abegglen, a Vernal native and former BYU player, died Dec. 19 at age 81.

Barbara Ballard • The wife of senior apostle M. Russell Ballard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died Oct. 1. She was 86.

Barbara M. Bannon • She reviewed plays and musicals in Utah for about 40 years, including 14 years as theater critic for The Salt Lake Tribune. Bannon died Oct. 11 from pancreatic cancer. She was 79.

Robert Bliss • The founder of the University of Utah Graduate School of Architecture also worked to preserve the state’s landmarks. Bliss died Nov. 2 at age 97.

Matthew Burchett • A battalion chief at the Draper Fire Department, Burchett was fighting wildfires in California when a tree fell on him and killed him Aug. 13. Burchett was 42.

Chris Buttars • The former state senator from West Jordan opposed rights for the LGBTQ community and championed drug treatment programs. Buttars died Sept. 10 of complications from diabetes. He was 76.

Ian Cumming • The former owner of Park City and Snowbird ski resorts was a big donor to Utah’s Democratic Party. Cumming died Feb. 2 at his home in Jackson, Wyo. He was 77.

Christine Decker • The former juvenile court judge died Jan. 2 of complications from cancer. Decker was 68.

Ezekiel Dumke • The businessman became, along with his wife, Kay, a philanthropist who gave to Utah’s universities, Red Butte Garden and a variety of causes benefiting the outdoors and people with illnesses. “Zeke” Dumke died April 14 at age 94.

Melvin Dummar • Dummar insisted he picked up stranded billionaire Howard Hughes in the Nevada desert and that Hughes left him a share of his estate as a thank-you. Dummar gained fame but never any money. He died from cancer Dec. 9 at age 74.

William England • England grew the family trucking business, C.R. England Inc., into one of Utah’s biggest transportation companies. England died March 30 at age 95.

Rowenna Erickson • A former plural wife, Erickson co-founded Tapestry Against Polygamy and was one of Utah’s most outspoken polygamy critics. She died Jan. 27 in Taylorsville at age 78 of complications from Alzheimer’s.

Bob Farrington • The urban planner helped Salt Lake City start such events as the Downtown Farmers Market, the Salt Lake Music Festival and Dine O’Round. He died April 9 from colon cancer. Farrington was 66.

Vaughn J. Featherstone • After rising through the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America, Featherstone was placed in charge of Young Men programs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Featherstone died May 12 in Bountiful at age 87.

Adonijah Foster • Viewers of the reality show “Three Wives, One Husband” saw Adonijah’s birth in the program’s first episode. The boy died at April 14 at age 2 in a fire at his family’s home at Rockland Ranch.

Roger French • An offensive assistant coach on the Brigham Young University football team for 21 seasons, “The Creetch,” as he was known, died Feb. 3. French was 86.

Kathleen Garn • The former Kathleen Brewerton began dating U.S. Sen. Jake Garn when he was in office. They were married 41 years until her death May 31. Kathleen Garn was 68.

Sam Granato • The grocer, restaurateur and Salt Lake County councilman died April 25 from cancer. Granato was 67.

Janet Gray • For almost 40 years, Gray taught dance at universities and her own Salt Lake City studio and choreographed theater productions. Gray died from cancer Jan. 19. She was 66.

Lamar Guymon • He served as sheriff of Emery County for 36 years and was the mayor of Huntington when he died Oct. 12 of complications from a heart attack. Guymon was 71.

James H. Hadfield • Hadfield served two terms as American Fork’s mayor. His last few years in office he also fought cancer. Hadfield died Feb. 27. He was 76.

Cinamon Hadley • A figure in Utah’s Goth scene and the inspiration for a DC Comics character named Death of the Endless, Hadley died from colon cancer Jan. 6 in Salt Lake City. Hadley was 48.

Jim Hansen • After serving as speaker of the Utah House, Hansen served 11 terms in the U.S. House. Hansen died Nov. 14 at age 86.

John Brendan Hart • An Irish priest who served parishes in Utah and was a chaplain in the Utah National Guard, Hart died July 27 in Salt Lake City. He was 83.

Fred Hayes • As Utah State Parks director for six years, Hayes saw the state add a park and make plans for more. Hayes was found dead March 2 at his home in Heber City. He was 58.

Samuel Tom Holiday • During World War II, Holiday joined the Marine Corps and became one of the Navajo Code Talkers, who used their language to send messages the Japanese couldn’t translate. Holiday died June 11 at a veterans home in Ivins. He was 94.

Matt Hillyard • He was son of state Sen. Lyle Hilyard, R-Logan, and a fixture at the Capitol, often sitting beside his father on the Senate floor. The younger Hillyard, who had Down syndrome, died Jan. 4. He was 42.

Jon Huntsman Sr. • An industrialist who used his wealth to build a cancer center in Salt Lake City and donate about $1.8 billion to charity, Huntsman died Feb. 2. He was 80.

Mel Hutchins • For leading the BYU men’s basketball team to the NIT championship in 1951, Hutchins’ No. 14 jersey hangs from the rafters at the Marriott Center. Hutchins died Dec. 19 in Encinitas, Calif., at age 90.

Paul James • For 36 years, James was the play-by-play announcer for Brigham Young University football and basketball games. He also was a sports anchor at KSL-TV. James died Oct. 6. He was 87.

Larry John • To Utah kids who watched television from 1972 to 1982, John was “Cannonball” on the children’s program “Hotel Balderdash.” John died Feb. 19 in Mesa, Ariz. He was 69.

Ted Johnson • The co-founder of Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort died Jan. 29 from injuries he suffered when a car struck him in a crosswalk in Santa Barbara, Calif. Johnson was 91.

Dan Jones • The legendary pollster gauged public sentiment on candidates, issues and even whether defendants could get a fair trial. Jones died Nov. 2 at age 84.

Von G. Keetch • The lawyer represented The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the fight against same-sex marriage and later became a general authority in the church. Keetch died Jan. 26 after a brief illness. He was 57.

Jerry Lewis • For more than 30 years, Lewis was the chaplain for the Utah Jazz. Lewis died Sept. 8 at age 80.

Brian Locke • Locke spent 32 years working for the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. He had reached the rank of lieutenant when he died in an off-duty UTV accident Oct. 6. Locke was 56.

Jeff Lowe • The Ogden native pioneered climbing routes in the Wasatch Mountains and around the world, founded the outdoor company Lowe Alpine and helped shape Ogden into an outdoor destination. Lowe died Aug. 24 from a degenerative disease at age 67.

Floyd Maestas • Maestas was suspected in about a half-dozen attacks against Salt Lake City women before killing Donna Lou Bott during a 2004 robbery. A jury convicted him of murder and sentenced him to death, but cancer killed Maestas Dec. 2. He was 63.

Lauren McCluskey • The University of Utah senior heptathlete was murdered Oct. 22 by a man she had briefly dated. McCluskey was 21.

Thomas S. Monson • For almost 10 years, Monson was president of the 16 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Monson died Jan. 2 at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 90.

Terry Nish • The patriarch of an auto racing family that succeeded on tracks and the Bonneville Salt Flats, “Terrible Terry” Nish died July 6 at age 80.

Hartman Rector Jr. • A convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who rose to leadership positions, Rector died Nov. 6 at age 94.

Stephen E. Robinson • The BYU religion professor in 1992 wrote the landmark Latter-day Saint book “Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News.” Robinson died June 17 at age 71.

David Romrell • The South Salt Lake police officer died Nov. 24 when he was struck by a car fleeing police. Romrell was 31.

J. Gary Sheets • Forger Mark Hofmann in 1985 planted bombs aimed at steering investigators toward an associate of Sheets’. One explosion killed Sheets’ wife, Kathleen Sheets, 50. Gary Sheets died Sept. 23 in St. George. He was 84.

Rocco Siciliano • A lawyer and University of Utah benefactor who worked for four U.S. presidents, Siciliano died Nov. 6 in California at 96.

Darold Simmons • The University of Utah football player became the coach at Granite High School for 14 years and later served as the athletic director at Taylorsville High School. Simmons died July 15 at age 86.

Bill Smart • Smart worked at the Deseret News for more than 40 years, including 14 as its editor and general manager. Smart died Jan. 24 at age 95.

Brent Taylor • The mayor of North Ogden was a major in the Utah National Guard. He was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed Nov. 3 in what the Army called an insider attack. Taylor was 39.

Barbara Toomer • Restricted to a wheelchair by polio, Toomer became an advocate for Utah’s disabled and poor residents. Toomer died April 24 at age 88.

Myron Walker • He was called the “first lad” when his wife, Olene Walker, became Utah’s governor in 2003. The couple were married 61 years until Olene Walker’s death in 2015. Myron Walker died July 30. He was 90.

Glen Warchol • A reporter at both Salt Lake City daily newspapers and later an editor at Salt Lake Magazine, Warchol died Jan. 31 of complications from heart disease. He was 65.

Dolores Gossner Wheeler • In 1981, she took over her family’s Gossner Foods, which makes cheese at a Logan plant and ships it all over the country, and held the job until a few weeks before she died from breast cancer Nov. 21. Wheeler was 81.

Steve Wiley • Known as “The Night Runner” from his 18 years driving the Utah State University football equipment truck, Wiley and his long white hair and long white Fu Manchu were fixtures on the USU sidelines. Wiley died Dec. 21 at age 67.

Kenneth Wynn • Known as “Mr. Liquor,” Wynn oversaw Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for 30 years. Wynn died Sept. 29 at age 82.

Editor’s note • Paul Huntsman, a son of Jon Huntsman Sr., is the owner and publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune.