James Leonard Shurtleff, 90, peacefully left his mortal frame and entered Paradise on New Year’s Day, 2021 in Provo, Utah. Leonard was born on May 8, 1930, the third of four sons of James Henry and Arvilla (Wallace) Shurtleff (Jones).

After serving eighteen months in the Spanish American Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Leonard met his “eternal companion,” Sandra Wilcock Shurtleff, in 1953. They became engaged prior to his shipping out to serve in the United States Army during the Korean War. Upon his return, they were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on June 7, 1955.

Leonard was devoted to his personal motto, “Love to Learn and Learn to Love.” He dedicated his entire professional career to education, the first part of his motto. Having earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University and Master of Science, and Education Specialist degrees from the University of Utah, Leonard taught chemistry for many years at Jordan, Hillcrest and Brighton High schools. The rest of his career he served as Vice-Principal at Brighton High, Principal at Bingham High and Principal at Midvale and Mt. Jordan Middle Schools. He was beloved by his students and recognized by his peers as 1969 Kiwanis Outstanding Teacher of the Year, 1969 National Science Teachers Association OHAUS Award winner, and was admitted into the Phi Delta Kappa Professional Fraternity in Education in 1975.

The second part of his motto shaped his life of committed service to the Savior’s invitation to “feed my sheep.” As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Leonard served as Bishop (three times); Stake High Counselor (twice); Mission President (Panama/Costa Rica and Malaga, Spain); Family History Missionary (Madrid, Spain); and Missionary Training Center President (Dominican Republic). When not in the mission field, he and Sandra served as Salt Lake Temple Square tour guides, Church Conference Center hosts and Jordan River Temple Baptistry workers.

Leonard loved America and taught his sons by example the importance of “Duty, Honor, Country.” He honorably retired from the United States Army in 1980 as a Lt. Colonel and served intermittently as an officer in the Utah National Guard. He never heard the Star Spangled Banner without tears in his eyes and he cherished the privilege of saluting the flag.

In his free time (which wasn’t much) he enjoyed family history research, working in his yard, rock collecting, hunting, fishing and eating out with his family.

Leonard is survived by his sweetheart, Sandra Shurtleff; sons Michael and Cathy Shurtleff of Columbia, South Carolina; Mark and Mindy Shurtleff of Salt Lake City, Utah; Keith and Nina Shurtleff of Hamilton, Missouri; Kevin, Jane Loftus and Barbara (deceased) Shurtleff of Provo, Utah; and daughter-in-law M’Liss Shurtleff of Sandy, Utah; 25 grandchildren and 41 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Clyde, Vernon and Lloyd.

The family would like to extend special thanks to Carol Harris of Brio Hospice and Chad Johnson at Courtyard at Jamestown Assisted Living.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 8, 2021 at 11:00 AM followed by a burial with full military honors at Memorial Mountain View Cemetery. Sadly, in following state and CDC guidelines only immediate family members are invited to attend. However, the mortuary will live stream the funeral and graveside services. The family would love all to join in celebrating Leonard’s life with us, so the services will be live-streamed via Zoom, information TBA. Flowers may be sent to the mortuary at 3115 East 7800 South, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121.

Zooming Instructions:

Joining by computer

a. to zoom.us in any internet browser

b. Click “join meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id – 8012981564

d. A box will open saying “https://zoom.us wants to open this application”. Click “open zoom”

e. Click “Join with Computer Audio”

f. Click “Mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services

2. Joining by phone or iPad

a. Download the Zoom app

b. Open the app and select “join a meeting”

c. Enter the meeting id -8012981564

d. Select “join without video”

e. Select “Call using internet audio”

f. Select “mute” in the bottom left hand corner so that your audio does not interrupt the funeral services.

https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/m3qkCo2Oxwuv4G9Gs1hjLD?domain=zoom.us