Death of President Eagar

John Edward Eagar, a resident of Mesa, died Oct. 3, 2007 at the age of 90. He was born Dec. 6, 1916, in St. Johns, Ariz., to John Edward Eagar and Louisa Jane Brown, and graduated from high school in St. Johns. Mr. Eagar served in the National Guard, immigration service and in the military. He attended college in Flagstaff and Tempe when both were Arizona State Teachers Colleges. He worked for and retired from the National Border Patrol in 1969.

He was a writer, musician, scouter, historian and book collector. He also enjoyed serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served as Bishop, Mission President in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua, and Stake President of the Camp Verde, Arizona Stake from 1977-1988. He also served two church missions in Guatemala.

Mr. Eagar was preceded in death by his first wife, Ella Starley Eagar. He is survived by his second wife, Gwenna Farnsworth Ethington Eagar of Mesa, Ariz.; and sisters Mary Butler of St. Johns, Ariz. and Ada Gelling of El Mirage, Ariz.; sister-in-law, Tony Jones, and nephew, Clayton Peterson. He leaves behind four stepdaughters and one stepson; Kay Anderson (Johnny) of Flagstaff, Ariz.; Darla Chase (Nial) of Kileen, Texas; Sandra Rice (T. Richard) of Flagstaff, Ariz.; Mark Ethington (Jamie) of Coolidge, Ariz.; and Carol Sorenson (Paul) of Flagstaff, Ariz. He was also survived by 21 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mission Fund. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Monday, Oct. 8 in the Pine Ward Relief Society Room, with funeral services at 11 a.m. at the Pine Ward Chapel, 4641 N Willow Tree Lane, Pine, AZ 85544. Graveside services will be at the Fillmore City Cemetery, 350 E. 600 S., Fillmore, Utah at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007.

Health of President Muren

A few months back I received these emails about President Muren:

Mon 5/21/2007 From: University Communications: Elder Joseph Muren, former member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy who served as our devotional speaker on March 27, has been hospitalized and is seriously ill. Sister Muren felt impressed that the campus community be told about Elder Muren's situation and that the students be invited to include him in their prayers. While university protocol usually precludes this type of invitation being extended, President Clark felt that in this case an exception should be made. Please include Elder Muren in your individual prayers as you have a desire to do so.

June 01, 2007: Buenos días, mi nombre es LEDA RAMOS, soy de Guatemala (Centro America) serví en la misión Costa Rica, únicamente le escribo para contarle que Pdte. Muren ha estado muy enfermo, como bendición la salud de Presidente está mejorando. Informé a mi hermano quien vive en Bountiful, Utah y es amigo de Pdte. Muren, por lo que lo visitó en el Hospital en Ogden, Utah. Su salud continúa delicada pero con mejoras, su esposa la hermana Gladys lo visita todos los días. Mi hermano me llamó hoy por la mañana para contarme que ayer lo fue a visitar y que aun enfermo conserva el buen humor. Si se me entero de algo mas, le informo.

Does anybody have any more recent news? If so, just add it to the comments. Thanks.

Organizing committee from last reunion

Left to right: Tim Malone, Tom Cavanaugh, Mike Lacey, Phil Wing, Brent Romney, Loren Ashcraft.

Click on the picture for a larger image.

Brent chaired the committee. Phil did a ton of calling and emailing to locate as many of the missionaries as possible. Tom and his wife managed most of the arrangements the day of the reunion. Loren made the DVD - I'm still amazed. Mike arranged for the building and worked with Presidents Eagar and Muren. I did the web page and kept a master email list.

We also had a lot of help from others who I can't remember because it was so long ago. We had a great catered meal and some authentic Central American food. If you'll remember, the church was full - too full - with 400 people. The organizing committee communicated mainly via email with a half dozen conference calls over the last few months before the reunion. So many of you wanted to share your bios and family photos. That contributed so much. Even though President Muren couldn't be there he said he loved catching up with you by reading your bios.

This is an open invitation to anyone who wants to participate on this year's reunion planning committee. We only hold these every five years so there is lots to do to make this special. If you're interested in helping in any way, just post a comment here and we'll get started. You don't have to be registered to post comments - just use the 'other' or 'anonymous' buttons.

Is it time for the next mission reunion?

You probably know that the LDS Mission Network hosts a nice web site for returned missionaries of the Costa Rica Mission. A lot of you are registered there and have used that to keep in touch with companions and members. You may also remember that at our last reunion in 2003 we had a web site where over 200 of you submitted biographies with photos. Some have emailed me asking, "Where did that web site go and how can I access or update my bio again?"

I've decided for this reunion to turn it into a blog. It is so much easier to maintain and lends itself to interaction with the instant comments on each post. I have all the old material and all your bios. I will be posting them one at a time over the next few months unless you tell me not to. We agreed to meet again in Oct 2008 somewhere in the Salt Lake area. So let's get the ball rolling and get this thing planned right. We want just as many to attend and promise to have a bigger building this time.

What is your favorite memory of the last reunion? Mine is the wonderful DVDs that Loren created for us. Thanks again Loren.