Our loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and passionate patriot-statesman passed away on July 17, 2015, after a brief illness.
Jackie Lee Crellin was born on September 28, 1926 in Rawlins, Wyoming to Erman and Hilda Crellin, and fittingly, the 12th great-grandson of a religious freedom seeking pilgrim aboard the Mayflower who signed the Mayflower Compact, laying the foundation for liberty and law.
Jack was raised in Tooele, Utah, and enjoyed sports and caused some amount of trouble with his brother Ken. An early adolescent accident changed the direction of his life from a pursuit of athletics to a pursuit of knowledge. He literally "served" his way through his time as a Corporal in the U.S. Army as a typist and tennis player at the end of World War II. Jack graduated first in his class from Tooele High School. He then graduated from the University of Utah ('49) and earned his J.D. from the University of Utah School of Law in 1952, where he also served on the board of editors of the Utah Law Review. He spent his law school summers working as a Yellowstone Park Ranger, the beginning of a life-long passion for geysers and everything Yellowstone.
On June 11, 1954, Jack married his sweetheart, Carolyn G. Barker, in Salt Lake City. They were later sealed in the Salt Lake City temple with their four children.
Jack served as Asst. Attorney General of the State of Utah from 1968 to 1974. He was the Salt Lake City Attorney from 1958 to 1968, as well as Asst. City Attorney from 1955 to 1957. He began his career as a land-man for El Paso Natural Gas and Standard Oil of California. He was licensed to practice law in the U.S. District Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Jack served on the Salt Lake Int'l Airport Advisory Board, lectured on constitutional law and the U.S. Constitution with W. Cleon Skousen's Freeman Institute, and enjoyed a life of service in the LDS Church, especially serving many young men, along with his own sons, as a volunteer leader in the Boy Scouts of America.
To those who knew him, Jack was one of the smartest, most principled, dependable, and honest men you could have the pleasure to know. He was a true patriot, statesman, constitutional scholar, naturalist, photographer, and family history recorder extraordinaire! He loved his family and family vacations across the West, but always found his way to Yellowstone, where he captured some rare and amazing photographs of the majesty of Steamboat Geyser, along with many other geysers and natural wonders. Jack also loved simple pleasures: good food, limericks, wildflowers, classic movies, and good ‘ole country music.
Jack's heart was, and will always be, in Yellowstone country amidst the grandeur of God's creations, and among family and friends. It is here that he helped hand-craft a simple log cabin for his parents, where he enjoyed his retirement summers, and where he bid farewell to this world, returned to the embrace of departed loved ones, and into the rest of his loving Savior.
Jack is survived by his beautiful bride of over sixty-one years, Carolyn Barker Crellin; his brothers Ken and Terry (Janice); four children Kelly (Sandee), Sierra Collins, Kim (Stephanie), and Casey (Lisa); twelve grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 23, at 11 a.m. at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East Dimple Dell Road (10600 South), Sandy, UT. Friends and family are welcome to visit one hour prior to the services. Interment will be in the Larkin Sunset Gardens Cemetery, following the services.
