I am writing this obituary on behalf of our Dad, Carl J. Heller. Our Dad passed away peacefully at Crescendo Memory Care in California on Monday, August 15, 2022.

Our Dad was born on June 23, 1932 to William C Heller and Louise Colzani Heller Torretta Cerrulli in a little house where the Elks Lodge use to be in Price, Utah. His sister Marylou was born two years later. Marylou passed away July 27, 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Our Dad went to elementary school at Notre Dame and was an altar boy at Notre Dame Church. Our Dad spoke often about how He and his mother cooked and cleaned for the nuns of Notre Dame.

While our Dad lived in Price they had a pig farm which he tended to the pigs daily after school. The pig farm was located around Noyes Lane which is Robertson Lane now. Our Dad’s dad, Bill, was a mortician with Dick Mitchell and our Dad went often with his Dad to help with the deceased and their families. Also, he helped his Dad build outhouses (our Dad would call them Roosevelt monuments) in Carbon and Emery county. Our Dad wanted to learn how to play the violin. His mother gave him money for tap dance lessons instead. Our Dad, in turn, used the money to go to the movies. Needless to say, he never learned how to tap dance.

When our Dad was in eighth grade the family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to be dairy farmers on 160 acres of land. The family raised dairy cows for Meadow Gold. Our Dad was a member of 4-H club for five years from 1946 to 1950. He had many different animal projects in 4-H, but his prize project was a Holstein calf that he named Taffy. He spoke about Taffy as if she were a regular house pet. In 4-H he won awards from Kraft food, 1st and 2nd place at the Colorado State Fair for dairy calf production. He won a blue ribbon in dairy heifer as well.

He was president of the 4-H club called the Pikes Peak Builder Club in 1950. He was on the 4-H square dance team, and he and his sister, Marylou, won first place in the state championship. He was active in athletics before his knee injury playing football. Our Dad graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1950 and was looking at starting his career as a dairy farmer with the family farm. Our Dad was thinking about going into the Air Force; he really wanted to be an air plane pilot, but his flat feet and the fact that he couldn’t seem to lose a few pounds, he decided to be an electrical engineer.

Our Dad graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado with a degree in electrical engineering on May 7, 1958. He belonged to the PI KAPPA ALPHA fraternity. He was the party planner and organizer for the fraternity. After graduation, our Dad immediately landed a job at Southern California Edison as a lineman. In 1961, he started working for the Department of Water & Power for the City of Los Angeles as an engineer. He worked in inspection and then became a standards engineer. He really enjoyed his job with department, made a lot of friends, and retired at the age of 72 in 2004. After retiring from LADWP he became a consultant for Impact Power. Our Dad loved to travel and the job with Impact Power gave him that opportunity to travel a lot to Taiwan with his friend Patrick.

Our Dad met our beautiful Mom, Della L Bolognesi, while in college. Our Mom, who was studying at Holy Cross in SLC to be a nurse and had to do some nursing training in Pueblo, Colorado. Her parents asked his parents if she could stay at their house while she did the training. They were married May 31, 1958 at St. Anthony’s Church in Helper, Utah and moved to California.

Their son Richard was born on December 15, 1959 and their daughter Cheryl was born November 27, 1960. Our beautiful Mom passed away on November 13, 1975, leaving all of us with broken hearts for many years. Our Dad lived in the family home in Brea, California for the duration of his life.

He is survived by his son, Richard L (Susan) Heller, of Florida; daughter, Cheryl (Gary) Lupo of Spring Glen; grandson, Stephan L. (Jeana); and our beautiful grandson, Frederick Burgess of Helper, Utah; and current wife in California.

Preceded in death by his wife, Della L. Bolognesi Heller of Helper, Utah; his parents, William C. and Louise Heller; sister, Marylou Clark; niece, Julie Morford.

The family would like to express a special thank you to Jimah with Echo Hospice in California. She went over and beyond in the care of our Dad and making sure our family received closure in the passing of our Dad. I would also like to thank everyone at Placentia Linda Hospital, St. Elizabeth rehab facility, and Crescendo Memory Care for all the care they showed our Dad in his final moments.

There will be a memorial mass held at Notre Dame Church, 210 N Carbon Ave, Price, Utah on September 1, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.