Lawrence David Mullins Obituary (1936

Lawrence David Mullins born October 11, 1936 to Lawrence Darrel and Hannah Robertson Mullins in Provo, Utah. Larry lost his mother only 3 days after he was born and was raised by his maternal grandparents and Aunt Ruth; he grew up on ranches and sheep farms and learned the value of honesty, hard work and integrity. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, his parents, his baby sister Cheryl and other siblings, dear friends and loved ones. Larry learned to box in High School and carried that skill with him into the Army at 18. He excelled as a soldier and served in the Infantry during the Korean War and spent many years in Panama teaching jungle survival. Larry was discharged, came back home and met the love of his life Patsy. After his persistent efforts, Larry convinced Patsy to marry him and they began their life together. Larry worked in many fields after getting his bachelors and master’s degrees, but his favorite memories were made while working for BYU and establishing and running their survival program where he spent many years teaching college students how to survive in any environment. Many lives were changed in those years. His next adventure began when the LDS Church asked him to create a security program for protecting the Prophet. Larry created the foundation for what is today one of the best security programs that exist. Larry enjoyed many years working as the personal body guard to President Spencer W Kimball and later published a book about those experiences. His next adventures took him back to nature where he spent the rest of his years working as a State Peace Officer for the Division of Natural Resources, in Search and Rescue and various State parks. He retired in 1998. Larry was an expert survivalist, hunter, fisher, tracker, gourmet cook, painter, writer, published author, scholar, life-long learner and so much more, but with all of his many talents and experiences, Larry was the most proud of his family. Larry and Patsy were blessed with 8 children; Kathy Dewitt (Alan), Ann Larsen (Barry), Sue Anderson (Randy), Larry Mullins (Bonnie), Tracy Myers, Aaron Mullins (Missy), Danny Mullins (Melissa), Hannah Cutler (Steve) and 2 foster children, Amy Black and Jerry Platero. They were also blessed with 26 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. All of whom never left grandma and grandpa’s house without knowing that they were loved and needed to “visit again soon”. There was barely an inch of wall space that wasn’t covered with pictures of their children and their grandchildren and they loved to show them off. Larry was a convert and an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days. He served in countless callings and leadership positions and shared his knowledge, love of the gospel and his love of people. To know Larry was to love him and to know that he loved you. He was a straight shooter and would always tell you the unvarnished truth, but he also had a finely-honed sense of humor and never missed an opportunity to tease and share his dry jokes, even if he was the only one laughing at them. In the words of his kids, “He was the best Dad in the whole world.” “He was the Rock of this family.” “I always knew that he loved me and that I was special to him.” We love you Dad. Thank you for making us all what we are today. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, December 7, 2018 at the Lakeside 14th Ward Chapel, 2530 West 200 South, Provo, Utah. Visitations will be held at the church Thursday, December 6 from 6-8:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery. Condolences may be expressed at www.bergmortuary.com.