Orrell Mitchell Moss

Orrell Mitchell Moss
October 19, 1930 - August 13, 2017

A humble, common man finished his chores early - as he was wont to do - and then he quietly went home. There was no fanfare or special accolades. He was pleased to simply have finished well and doing his best was satisfaction enough. His chores were different than most, not necessarily what he had wanted, and his return walk was painful and arduous. Still, he did what was asked, made the best of what he had, and he returned home to awaiting family and friends.

Orrell Mitchell Moss passed away peacefully on Sunday, 13 August 2017, at the West Point home that he and his wife built. He was 86 years old.

He was born in his grandmother's house in Clinton, Utah to Reuben Hyrum Moss and Norma Amy Mitchell. He grew up helping work the family farm in West Point, but eventually started working at the railroad yards in Ogden for the Pacific Fruit Express. He attended local schools, graduating from Davis High School and receiving a two-certificate from Weber State College (University). He lived primarily in West Point and he loved the area. He worked his entire life, usually behind the scenes, to improve his home and hometown. He served faithfully for four-years on the city's planning commission.

He married Carolyn Diane Roe of Ogden on July 31, 1950, when he was 19 years old and she was just 16. Their marriage was solemnized a year later in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The couple initially used his Harley Davidson motorcycle for their transportation, but they soon added a sidecar before finally upgrading to a car. They lived a short time in Ogden until he was drafted into the United States Army to serve in the Korean War.

His draft in 1950 was deferred due to a broken leg with multiple fractures, but he was eventually sent to Camp Roberts in California for basic training and then onto Pusan, Korea where he was a telephone lineman. He was transferred to Koje-do Island as a military policeman over prisoners of war immediately following the General Dodd incident and riots. He was then sent to Taegu as a captain's driver and mail clerk. He was discharged in Ft. Lewis, Washington at the rank of corporal. He considered himself extremely blessed to return home safely to his young wife. He was recently awarded the Ambassador of Peace award from the Republic of Korea for serving in their country during the war.

His early married years after the war passed peacefully and the couple began building a home in West Point, but initially without the blessing of any children. After eight years of marriage, he and Diane began plans to adopt. Not long after they started their adoption plans, however, the first child, Mark, was born, and soon thereafter Lance and Clark were added. His daughter, Amber, came years later after multiple, difficult miscarriages. He knew with Amber that his little family was complete and their home became his haven.

He would often request to be known as simply "O.M." - not because he didn't like his name, but because it was easier for others to pronounce. Regardless of what people called him, they knew they could rely on him. If he said it, he meant it, and he did it. It was more important to him to be known by that than by any moniker.

After working for the railroad for about 27 years, he went into medical retirement at 41 years old due to the ramifications of past injuries and surgeries. This retirement and the 45 years of health issues that followed required the other family members to work for their collective well-being. This took a toll on his self-respect and his self-worth. He knew his responsibilities and often anguished over not being able to complete them fully. Still, he did what he could and never shirked his role as husband, father, and provider.

The family had two different opportunities to provide for themselves - delivering the Ogden Standard Examiner daily newspaper to the local area and then being custodians for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the church buildings in West Point. These allowed him some flexibility during the 1970's when he still had some limited physical capability. He and Clark managed to build a real log cabin on family property in the Uintah mountains. From felling trees, to dragging them to site, to trimming and peeling them, to stacking them, and to finishing the structure, the entire effort is a monument to the manual labor of pioneer ancestors. It has become his legacy and it's easy to see his passion for excellence and his love of nature at that place. The family has spent and will spend many seasons and countless vacations working and enjoying "the cabin."

The cabin was an outlet for his love of the outdoors. He lived for almost all kinds of hunting and fishing. His exceptional eyesight and steady hand allowed him to excel at all of them. He taught his family a gratitude for the harvested meat as well as a love for nature and how to protect and preserve it - as much as he ever taught them how to hunt and use weapons effectively. The love of the outdoors - the fresh air, the quiet stillness, and the enveloping peace - is what called to him. But he also loved the camaraderie of being with like-minded friends away from the hectic world "down below."

He was particularly skilled at all things mechanical, but he was locally known for his work on carburetors. Repairs shops would often contact him to help with their difficulties and people would seek him out for his automotive expertise. Some of his most famous mechanical creations are his dune buggies. Developed from old, run down, cut up Volkswagen Bugs and Karmann Ghias - the family loved his dune buggies - one of which still runs around the mountain roads at the cabin after more than 50 years of use.

He also did things strictly for his children's enjoyment - like a wooden fort on 6-foot tall stilts in the backyard which became the neighborhood playground. He also welded a small tubular frame with four wheels and attached a lawnmower engine to create a go-cart that provided countless hours of fun in the backyard and on the dirt road called the neighborhood "lane." He built several varieties of tote-goats and enhanced many Jeeps, getting their performance well beyond their normal function. He later would purchase snowmobiles, dirt bikes, and ATVs, which he really enjoyed because they helped him get even farther and with greater ease into the mountains he loved.

His mind would lead him to experiment and get the most out of machines - all on little or no budget. He was ever engaged with "what ifs" and you'd often hear him say, "I can make that work." And sure enough, he would.

His decades of declining health slowed him down in his later years. After his sons' missions and his children's marriages, his attention turned more to his descendants and his contribution in their lives. His demeanor changed and his soft kindness and quiet sweetness really began to shine. Those attributes became his hallmark with his grandchildren. His passion for hunting and even for going to the cabin would eventually wane due to his suffering, but his love for his family would drive him beyond his pain to help and to always be there for them.

In the last years of his life, he found two hobbies that brought him temporary relief or distraction from his suffering. One was building various guns. He said it kept his mind off of his troubles and he has built many that have never been fired. The other was to help with mechanical repairs on equipment at the local stake farm. He knew he couldn't walk the fields at the welfare farm, but he could still turn a machine lathe, work a milling machine, and lay a bead weld with the best to aid the Lord's welfare work on earth. He was a gunsmith and an exacting artist and he taught his skills to his family in the best ways he knew how - through his example of outstanding craftsmanship.

His prior injuries and his decades of physical labor would cause a slow, painful, deterioration of his body. He suffered through multiple knee surgeries - the cause of his medical retirement - before eventually having 6 total knee replacements besides other "normal" surgeries for appendicitis and gall bladder difficulties. However, all of this was overshadowed by the unnecessary removal of one of his kidneys and the complications from that surgery more than a decade ago. The damaged nerves from that procedure would leave him in constant agony for the rest of his life. Still, he would work as best he could through the suffering to do as much as he could whenever he could. He would still mow his own lawn, in spite of everything, up until a few weeks before he passed.

Even with all of the trials, his testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ and of the restored Church grew brighter and brighter with every passing year. He served in many capacities, but none challenged him more than being a Seventy with responsibility for preaching the gospel. He felt inadequate because he never got to serve an official mission. His particular missionary service culminated when he was a guide at the Ogden Tabernacle - long before its renovation. He would come home after serving there and tell the whole family about the people he talked to, their questions, and their stories. He loved helping them feel the Spirit of truth as they toured the facility.

He would not want to be known by his callings in the kingdom and suffice it to say his were never the most visible or prominent callings. Still, he served in various capacities like Sunday School superintendent (president), Young Men's president, ward clerk, and member of the stake high council. He was glad to help with whatever he had to offer and he had the same passion for excellence in doing his home teaching as he had in the other endeavors of his life. Home teaching was a calling he knew he could do and he felt that if the Lord saw it important enough to ask him to do it, then it was worth his sacrifices to make sure he did it. His home teaching families knew of his dedication to them, in spite of his own perceived weaknesses to speak well or teach powerfully.
He was there and they could rely on him; they knew that for a fact. His life was a witness to the Lord that he could be counted on.

A self-proclaimed simple man, but humble, dedicated, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend finished his chores and quietly went home, but not without leaving a silent legacy of sacrifice, commitment and enduring to the end that will be carried through the ages by those who love him.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and siblings: Fredrick (Freddy), Wayne, and Julie. He is survived by his wife, Diane, and his children Mark (Susan), Lance (Jean), Clark (Lisa), and Amber (Tim Jones). He also has one remaining sibling, Linda (Joe Baldini). He leaves a posterity of 13 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren (with one on the way), all of whom adore him.

Visitations will be at the LDS Church located at 2852 West 300 North, West Point, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 17, and 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. on Friday, August 18. Funeral services will follow at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be at the West Point City cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital.
VisitationWest Point 14th Ward
2852 West 300 North
West Point, UT 84015
August 17, 2017
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
ServiceWest Point 14th Ward
2852 West 300 North
West Point , UT 84015
August 18, 2017
11:00 AM