April 19, 1926 – January 18, 2021 (age 94)
Our loving husband and father, Elgie Jonathan Hale, 94, passed away peacefully on January 18, 2021.
He was born April 19, 1926, in Blackfoot, Idaho, the son of Horace Hale and Delta Ivie Mangum. He served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II.
He married his sweetheart Vera Ruth Judy in the Salt Lake Temple on August 30, 1946. They were married 67 years and had seven children: Kathy (Jax), Sandy; Brent (Sandra), Centerville, Utah; Craig (Jamie), Knoxville, Tennessee; Kristen (Danny) Giatras, Farmington, Utah; Bob (Beth), Brigham City, Utah; Lisa (Brett), Lakeville, Minnesota. Together they had 40 grandchildren and 116 great-grandchildren.
After the passing of his beloved Ruth, Elgie met and married Ruth Crapo Hess in 2014, and they enjoyed six wonderful years together. Elgie became the stepfather of Ruth’s four children: Lynn Hess; Garry (Annette), Malad, Idaho; Troy Hess, Malad, Idaho; Darin (Jamie) Hess, Franklin, Idaho, and step-grandfather to 8 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
He was an outdoorsman and avid snow and slalom water skier until the age of 88.
He studied electrical engineering at Utah State University. He began his career at the Reactor Testing Station in Arco, Idaho. During his career, he was the holder of several patents. He also computerized the Lagoon Amusement Park and the Moroni Turkey Processing Plant in Utah. He was CEO of Hardy Scale Company in Ogden, designed large automatic battery chargers for Dugway Proving Grounds, designed the final checkout equipment for the Corvus Missile, designed a depth and altitude reader for the Neutralist Submarine, and designed an automatic material handling system for the defense depots of the United States. Elgie had the engineering responsibility to design an O-ring protection system following the space shuttle Challenger disaster. This system enabled the shuttle to be launched at cold temperatures. He flew to Kennedy Space Center and supervised the assembly of the redesigned O-ring protection system of the rocket motors for the next six shuttle launches. The rocket protection systems successfully flew without failure on 109 flights before the shuttle program ended. He retired from Morton Thiokol.
Elgie was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as Bishop of the Bountiful 32nd ward. He also served in several bishoprics and high councils and as regional director of the Name Extraction Program. In 1992, he and Vera Ruth served a proselyting mission in Ireland, and later a temple mission in London, England. He served as a sealer in the London, Ogden, and Brigham City temples.
Elgie was preceded in death by his first wife, Vera Ruth Judy, his son Craig Victor Hale and step-son David Lynn Hess.
A public viewing will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2021 from 10:00 – 11:00am at Gillies Funeral Chapel, 634 East 200 South, Brigham City, Utah, masks and social distancing are required.
Private funeral services for the family will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 12:00 noon.
Elgie’s services will be live streamed and may be viewed by clicking here.
Interment will be in the Brigham City Cemetery where military honors will be accorded by the Combined Veterans of Box Elder County Honor Guard.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at Gillies Funeral Chapel.