Ray Baird Lundgreen 1926-2010 Funeral Card

Funeral Card

Ray Baird Lundgreen 1926-2010 Graveside Service Remarks by Bishop Steven West

Ray Baird Lundgreen is the great grandson of Alexander and Sarah Mary Theresa deLacy Baird.

At the Graveside Service 28 Jun 2010

Ray came into the world in the midst of a great storm one evening and left this world on a very peaceful and quiet day. This is like our life here with great controversy and then as we leave this life we are filled with peace and happiness.

During Ray’s life many changes in our world have occurred. The Bishop’s daughter recently observed a large old 78 record and remarked that it was a very big CD.

Ray loved scouts and wore the scout uniform proudly. Now as we viewed his body he wears the uniform of the Temple. A symbol of where he is waiting for his family. The associations continue on for eternity.

“The Shaping of Stones”

The most beautiful stones

Have been tossed by wind

And smoothed by water

… Just like stone

We have been polished by the

….Gifts of our fathers

The wisdom of their years

The strength of their values

And the patience of their understanding

Joseph F Smith

“Death is not an unmixed horror. With it are associated some of the profoundest and most important truths of human life. Although painful in the extreme to those who must suffer the departure of dear ones, death is one of the grandest blessings in divine economy.

“We are born that we may put on mortality, that is, that we may clothe our spirits with a body. Such a blessing is the first step toward an immortal body, and the second step is death. Death lies along the road of eternal progress; and though hard to bear, no one who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially in the resurrection, would have it otherwise…Death is really a necessity as well as a blessing, and…we would not and could not be satisfied and supremely happy without it.

“For death was the penalty of the law transgressed, which man was powerless to avert, that fiat of God being. ‘In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, ‘[Moses 3:17] and this penalty was to follow upon all flesh, all being as helpless and dependent as he was in this matter.

“We are called mortal beings because in us are seeds of death, but in reality we are immortal beings, because there is also within us the germ of eternal life. Man is a dual being, composed of the spirit which gives life, force, intelligence and capacity to man and the body which is the tenement of the spirit and is suited to its form, adapted to its necessities, and acts in harmony with it, and to its utmost capacity yields obedience to the will of the spirit. The two combined constitute the soul. The body is dependent upon the spirit, and the spirit during its natural occupancy of the body is subject to the laws which apply to and govern it in the mortal state. In this natural body are the seeds of weakness and decay, which, when fully ripened or untimely plucked up, in the language of scripture, is called “the temporal death.

“Every man born into the world will die. It matters not who he is, nor where he is, whether his birth be among the rich and the noble, or among the lowly and poor in the world, his days are numbered with the Lord, and in due time he will reach the end. We should think of this. Not that we should go about with heavy hearts or with downcast countenances; not at all. I rejoice that I am born to live, to die, and to live again. I thank God for this intelligence. It gives me joy and peace that the world cannot give, neither can the world take it away. God has revealed this to me, in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it to be true. Therefore, I have nothing to be sad over, nothing to make me sorrowful.

Ray returned to be with the rock of his father and brother and the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.

(Note by Shelley Haltiner Grover: These words were not recorded and were written down as notes therefore they may or may not be verbatim, but the ideas were presented. The Shaping of Stones is exactly as read as well as the Quote of President Joseph F. Smith. The Quote was taken from the “Teachings of Presidents of the Church” Series, pages 87-89, but may or may not be the full quote used as it does extend two additional paragraphs.)

(Note 2 by Shelley Haltiner Grover: If there are comments, additional thoughts not included, corrections, etc please email me and I will correct this. shelleygrover.genealogy@gmail.com)

Ray Baird Lundgreen (1926-2010) Graveside Service Tribute by Granddaughter Mandy Lundgreen Celis

This was read at the graveside service by: Granddaughter Mandy Lundgreen Celis

Life History

I wanted to say something about my grandfather.

Ray Baird Lundgreen was born October 17th 1926 in his parents’ home in Ogden while a fierce wind storm raged outside. Assisting the Doctor at his birth was his paternal Grandmother Mary Anderson Lundgreen, a midwife.

He was the second of three children born to Orlando V. Lundgreen and Vontella (Von) H. Baird Lundgreen. He had an older brother Vern B. Lundgreen and a younger sister Joyce (Lundgreen) Fox both of whom have preceded him in death.

Soon after his birth Orlando and Vontella built their home on Fourth Street in Ogden where he lived until his marriage to Sarah Jean Law on May 3rd 1950 in the Idaho Falls Temple. This was a very special day as Ray & Jean participated in a double ceremony with one of Jean’s cousins.

For the first 16 years of their marriage Ray & Jean lived in many parts of Weber County. Finally in 1966 they were able to buy a home in Clearfield where Jean continues to reside today.

He was the proud Father and Father-in-law of 5 sons, 2 daughters, 4 daughters –in-law and 2 sons-in-law. They are Val Lundgreen, Kevan and Patty (Armstrong) Lundgreen, and Pete and JoD’An (Lundgreen) Smalley all of Clearfield, Leland Lundgreen and his recently departed wife Laurel (Bass) of Roy, Dana Lundgreen of Draper, Jonathan and Heidi (Langton) Lundgreen of Ivins, Utah and Daniel and Cindy Jo (Lundgreen) Rogers of North Attleborough, Massachusetts. He was also the Grandfather to 9 boys & 3 girls as well as Great-Grandfather to 9 (6 girls and 3 boys).

Ray worked for the United States Air Force at Hill Air Force Base for over 30 years until his retirement in 1988.

His favorite hobbies were rock collecting and fishing. He enjoyed taking his family to different locations to hunt for rocks. When he got the rocks home he would spend many hours cutting and polishing them before making them into key chains and other types of jewelry. Although he enjoyed fishing, it seemed like the thing he caught the most was one of his boys when they fell in the water.

Ray was an active Scouter for over 30 years. In 1990 Ray & Jean were called to serve for one year as missionaries in the Pittsburg Pennsylvania Mission. Upon their return home they then served as stake missionaries.

Due to various problems he encountered later in his life Ray spent the last several years in a care center where he passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 23rd 2010.

Although he will be missed we take comfort in the knowledge that he is at peace and freed from the difficulties of mortality. We look forward to the day when we and he will be reunited as a family forever.

Michael Baird (1951-) Son of Roland Baird who is the son of Charlotte Alvina Keller who is the daughter of Anna Christena Larsen and James M. Keller

THE LEGENDS OF MICHAEL D.(Douglas) BAIRD
1951-

How Mike Got His Name

Since I was 10, and the present baby of the family, Mom and Dad discussed it and decided they should have more children to raise since we would all soon be up and gone and Mom said, "There just isn't any reason to stay married if we're not raising children." Soooo. When Mother was expecting Mike, Art was 15, Bruce was 13 and I was 10. We were old enough to be consulted in such matters as the naming of this baby. We all made suggestions. Everyone but me loved "Douglas" (there was a nice boy in my class named Douglas, but his ears stuck out). "Keith" was pretty popular. Mother thought maybe she should name him for Richard R. Lyman, her apostle uncle, but Aunt Myrl had already stolen that thunder and Dad kinda drug his feet on that one. Then someone suggested "Michael."

Douglas sounded great with it. Mom said while he was little, we could call him Mickey and we all thought that was adorable. Yet, when he came home, we all called him "Mikey" for years. He just wasn't a Mickey. That was okay. Rick gave us the "icky" syllables we were looking for. And that is how Mike got his name.

Why Mike's Birthday is sometimes on Father's Day

Grandma Baird wanted to have Mike on Father's Day. (Do you remember) That was on Sunday, the 17th. The doctor gave her some medication to start things going on Saturday since Mike was about due. Then Dad and the boys (Art and Bruce) went off doing the Saturday things with Dad as they so often did, leaving me home alone with Mom. The medicine worked great. She went into hard labor in no time! It was a hours until the guys came home. Michael wasn't born right then and there only because he was turned the wrong way. Dad took her to Dee Hospital in Ogden where she went through an awful night, but unable to deliver. Finally, on Sunday morning, the doctor decided to try to turn him manually inside the birth canal (I'm sure that was fun for Mom) before going to a C-section (rare in those days). That did the trick, and Mikey came into the world after a rough birth. He was happy and cute though, just like he is today. So that is why Mike's birthday is sometimes on Father's Day.

Why Mike Is So Sweet

The Dee Hospital played another part in Mike's life as he, with a lot of other babies in that hospital, got a form of dysentery during his birth stay. Mom couldn't get it to clear up. When he was four months old he was rushed back to the Dee and he nearly died with dehydration and fever. They had to make an incision in his ankle to even administer the IV he was so tiny. Mom was so sure we would lose him he was that low, that when they came back from the hospital Art was washing diapers in the Twin-tub Dexter, and she told him to take them out back and burn them. He didn't. Dad said he reached under the oxygen tent and squeezed his foot a little to see if he was alive. Mike barely twitched the third and fourth fingers on his left hand (his favorite sucking fingers after that) his only sign of life. When he finally recovered and came home, Mike had to have such a special diet with no real sugar, only malto-dextrin for about a year. It tastes very sweet and that is why Mike is so very sweet to this day.

I testify these things are true, and I should know because I was there. Mike's true and loving BIG sister, Charlotte June Baird June 17, 2010 Hollywood, California, USA

[Note from Shelley: Thanks for allowing me to post this.]

Pedigree chart (Alexander Baird)

Since at least one of my family would like to see a pedigree chart of Alexander Baird, I am happy to show a brief one for your information.


Coila Carver

Walter Jerold Carver
Cloteal Alvina Baird

William Delacy Baird
Charlotte Keller

Alexander Baird
Sarah Mary Theresa Delacy

(Sorry I can't get a pedigree outline to work. Maybe I'll learn how along the line.)

Hope this helps you see where Alexander Baird fits into the family.

Alexander had four wives. (There has been a fifth one added to many pedigrees, but as yet it has not been verified as a wife of his and he does not mention her in his autobiography.)
1. Grace Barr married 1850 in St Louis, Missouri
2. Sarah Mary Theresa Delacy married 10 April 1860 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusette
3. Margaret Crompton married 18 Dec 1874, Brigham City, Box Elder, UT
4. Kirsten Christena Christensen married 10 May 1875, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Ut

Shelley

A Little About This Blog

It has been my dream for 30+ years to write histories of my ancestors for my family. I have learned so much from the lives of those I have researched. Knowing and learning of the strength that each of my ancestors possessed to live their lives with hope, trying to conquer their challenges, and living for their dreams has given me hope that I might leave something for my descendants that will be of value to them. Hence the desire to write their stories.

As I find the records and the personal accounts of their lives, I will make my experiences a record here. Perhaps this is more for me to remember all that I have learn than for anyone else. So I will not be offended by any who come here and decide there is nothing of interest for them. But if one does find something of value to them, then I pray they will do the same for someone else.

Shelley