Robert Church

Robert "J" Church (Bob) of Pleasant Grove, Utah, passed away March 7, 2019. He was born April 22, 1937, the only child of Ila Laura Jenkins and Wilmer Haden Church. He married Dianne Kreutzkamp in the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 6, 1990.

Bob graduated from Inglewood High School in Inglewood, California in 1955. He entered the United States Air Force for a term of four years and received an Honorable Discharge in January 1960. He then worked his way through college at a variety of jobs, most notably working several years as a passenger service agent for United Airlines, reporting for work at 5 a.m. He graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University at Long Beach.

Degree in hand, Bob began a 35-year career in Human Resources working for a number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 200 companies such as United States Gypsum, Sears Manufacturing, McDonald Douglas, Hewlett Packard, and Daimler-Chrysler. He acted as HR Manager, head hunter and independent consultant, sometimes hiring as many as 1000 new employees in one year. He can be quoted as saying he worked half time - from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. He had an outstanding work ethic. He treated his employees with great respect and they in turn had great respect and admiration for him.

From age 10 Bob was a Science Fiction enthusiast. It was the science part that intrigued him. He was interested in anything having to do with outer space and would have volunteered to go on a NASA space shuttle if given the opportunity. He loved the comics, especially Calvin and Hobbs, Peanuts, Lil Abner, and Zits. He was an artist and had a brief dream of having his own cartoon strip. As he read the daily comics, his laughter was heard all over the house.

Bob started playing tennis in High School because he thought he was too small for any other sport.  Turns out he excelled at tennis and was the star player in his senior year.  He had a wicked serve and his opponents teased that they had to dig the tennis ball out of the court after his serves.  He also played one year on the city team.  He taught Dianne to understand the scoring and together, every year they watched the four Grand-Slams, Wimbldon, US Open, French Open, and Australian Open.  He had a great love of music.  He had downloaded hundreds of favorite pieces on his Kindle and as pain kept him awake most nights, he would spend hours listening to music.  His taste varied from Horowitz at the piano to George Straight to Jackie Evanco to Pete Fountain on his licorice stick to all country music.  He read favorite websites daily, those having to do with the latest space exploration, technology, and medical advances. He believed robots would one day be in every home like vacuums and microwave ovens.  Bob was a great story-teller, and for 29 years he entertained his wife Dianne with stories from his Air Force days, from his college days and about fellow workers he had known over the years.

Bob's only son Robert "J" Church Jr. (Bobby) died tragically in 1988 at the age of 5 years old. Only Bob's faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement and resurrection gave him the courage to go on.  Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday March 16, 2019 at The Pleasant Grove 8th Ward, 1136 West 700 South, Pleasant Grove.  Friends may visit with the family Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary 495 South State street, Orem, and Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church, prior to the services.  Bob will be buried next to Bobby on Friday, March 22, 2019 at 1:00 in El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, California.   Bob leaves behind his wife of 29 years, Dianne Kreutzkamp Church. He was a loyal, devoted, and loving husband. Her faith mirrors Bob's. Knowing their marriage and their love for each other is eternal brings comfort and peace.