Richard Dilworth Monson December 26, 1928 – January 22, 2019 Richard Dilworth Monson was born December 26th, 1928 in Washington, D.C. to Walter and Jesina Monson. He was raised mostly in Salt Lake City where he graduated at 16 from East High. Following graduation, he spent a summer riding horses and herding cattle.
By the time he was 21, he had completed a year of college at the University of Utah, served in the Navy as a medical corpsman, and completed an LDS mission to Toronto, Canada. It was in Canada that he met a sister missionary, Joy Heckmann who would later become his wife. After completing a degree in journalism from the U, he and Joy and their twin sons moved to New York City so he could earn what was then a relatively new college degree, a Masters of Business Administration from NYU.
He spent the next 18 years working in New York City in Advertising and Marketing and living in New Jersey where 2 more daughters and 2 more sons were born. After leaving New Jersey, Richard and Joy and their family lived for a short time in Indiana before moving to Utah where he worked as the Advertising, Sales and Promotion Manager at ZCMI. They settled in Bountiful, Utah and lived in the same home for almost 50 years.
During this time, they welcomed Mackie Lucio into their home as part of the church’s Indian placement program. If you were to characterize Richard’s life, it would be one of service and devotion to the church, his family, and his friends. He had a deep and unwavering testimony of Jesus Christ and a desire to serve Him.
While in New Jersey, he helped grow a little branch into a ward, helped build the first chapel for that ward, served in many church callings, and then when the ward was divided and a new ward was formed, he became the bishop of the new ward. He has served in many callings in the wards in Bountiful, including years of service to the youth even when he was in his 70s and 80s. After retiring, he and Joy served a proselyting mission in Texas, a temple mission in Nauvoo and a temple mission in the Dominican Republic where they were with the first group of temple workers to serve in the temple after it was dedicated.
He and Joy have spent many years as temple workers in the Bountiful Temple and as a sealer, he has performed the marriages of many of his grandkids. Richard was devoted to his family and friends. He was always there to provide emotional, spiritual and physical support to children and grandchildren in good times and in times of great challenge and distress.
There are many people in his wards and community who benefited from visits, food and any kind of help he could provide. He knew and had a relationship with almost everyone in the neighborhood and ward. He lived life to the fullest.
He loved sports, took his kids to Yankee, Knicks and Rangers games in New York, played baseball and softball, skied and played basketball into his 80s, and just last summer was golfing and playing tennis. He had a life-long love of fishing. Most of our family vacations in New Jersey were fishing trips in the Adirondack Mountains with our good friends the Lunds.
Dad enjoyed the arts, including opera in both New York and Utah. After retiring, he learned Spanish, played the guitar, and within the past few years, took up oil painting. He read widely and had informed opinions on many subjects.
Richard was always positive and upbeat and encouraging to his wide circle of family and friends. During the past few weeks as his life was coming to an end, he never complained about his discomfort or pain. Many people have been touched by his life.
We have all cherish his memory and look forward to the time when we can be with him once again in the life to come. To Laurie, Carolyn, Jasmine, etc. – “Angels in Scrubs” and to Cas and the good folks at Life Care and Lakeview Hospital, God Bless.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am, Saturday, January 26, 2019 at the Mueller Park 3rd Ward Chapel, 1825 S. 800 E. Bountiful, Utah. Friends may visit family Friday, Jan. 25th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N. 400 E. and Sat.
from 9:00 to 10:30 am at the Church prior to services. Interment Lakeview Memorial Cemetery, Bountiful, Utah.
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