J. Marvin Lange, 89, was born September 12, 1924 in Salt Lake City to Hans Friedrich Karl Lange and Berenice Peterson Lange. He passed away May 7, 2014 at his granddaughter's home in Fallbrook, California.
Marvin grew up in Salt Lake City, where he graduated from West High School. He served in the Navy during World War II, served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Western Canadian Mission, graduated from the University of Utah in electrical engineering, and worked for the Southern California Gas Company until his retirement in the late 1980s. He married Barbara Jean Fraughton in the Salt Lake Temple on June 15, 1949. They were the parents of two children, Claudia and David. During the years the family resided in San Gabriel, California, Marvin served as bishop of the South Pasadena Ward and as a high councilor and stake clerk in the Pasadena California Stake.
After his retirement, he and Barbara retired to Utah, where he planned and built his own home in Bountiful. Barbara passed away February 24, 1994. He married Venna Watkins Swalberg on June 23, 1995. She passed away December 20, 2012.
Grandpa was amazing. He was brilliant and creative and so ahead of the curve on so many things: He rode his bicycle to and from work way before anyone else thought to worry about carbon footprints. He designed and built his dream home to be highly energy efficient, with all sorts of unusual building materials, long before anyone cared about green design; he was even featured in a trade magazine highlighting his innovation. He was a prolific hobbyist photographer who documented the life of his family.
He felt passionately about healthful living and naturopathy. He juiced up disgusting things into smoothies decades before supermodels and trendsetters made green smoothies a Thing. He viewed modern medicine generally, and pharmaceuticals particularly, as some kind of scientific priestcraft not to be trusted. He made a point of eating natural, non-processed foods, and he remained active for as long as he possibly could. He celebrated his 80th birthday with an 80-mile bike ride. (He was looking forward to riding 90 at 90 before fate and pneumonia and congestive heart failure intervened.) For his 85th birthday he enjoyed a hot-air balloon ride over the beautiful Heber Valley with his son and daughter-in-law, who both shared September birthdays with Marvin.
He is survived by his daughter, Claudia Cleverly; son-in-law, Dean Cleverly; daughter-in-law, Janice Anderson Lange; and a sister, Ruth Smith. His posterity includes 16 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; both of his wives; his son, David Lange; a sister, Helen Amundsen; and 2 great-grandchildren, Tanner Hoff and James Cleverly.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. in the Mueller Park Stake center, 1800 Mueller Park Road, Bountiful Utah. A viewing will be held Friday, May 23 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City; and on Saturday from 9:00 to 9:45 at the Mueller Park Stake center. Interment will follow on Wednesday, May 28 at 10:00 a.m. at the Lakeview Memorial Cemetery in Bountiful.
