John William Loosle

John William Loosle was born April 9, 1927, in Clarkston, Utah to Reuben Oddo (R.O) and Sylvia Heggie Griffiths Loosle. He was the fifth of eleven children. His family moved to Logan when he was about six years of age and he attended Logan schools. When he was a senior, he spent half his time at the high school and the other half at the Utah State Agricultural College. He graduated high school on a Friday and reported Monday to the Navy. He was in training when Japan was bombed and then surrendered. He was assigned to the U.S. Navy Amphibian Training Center where he learned to drive the small ship to shore boats. He was then sent to Japan.
John had just come home from the Navy where he had dreamt about the girl he should marry. In less than two hours of being home, his friend showed him a picture of several girls and one beautiful face shown out from the rest – it was the face he seen in his dream! He set about to meet Joan and make his dream come true. On August 31, 1946, he met the love of his life on a blind date. By New Year’s Eve, 1946, they were engaged. They were married on June 16, 1947 in the Logan LDS temple, just three weeks after she graduated from high school. John attended Utah State Agricultural College and Joan worked as a clerk in Allen’s Ladies Store. Their first child was a boy born in May 1949. They named him John.
After graduation, John and Joan moved their family to Oxnard, California, where he had a job with Marquardt and with the Naval Air Missile Testing Center. It was in California that Joan learned from the Spanish American missionaries how to make her wonderful signature enchiladas that John loved so much. Their second child, Linda, was born in California. After two years, John moved his family back to Utah where they had three more children – Moriah, Tina, and Myndee.
They returned to Utah because John was hired by Hill Air Force Base to start the Product Engineering Department. Six years later, he became the F89 Weapons System Manager. He then was hired by Thiokol to manage building the first stage of the Minuteman Missile. Over the years, John started up or managed the Manufacturing Engineering Division, Manufacturing, Safety, Security, Training, and Fire, as well as began the organization for building the Space Shuttle booster rockets. Throughout his career he worked closely with top NASA, Navy, and Air Force officials.
In 1986, John retired to a two-year consulting position with Thiokol. By 1988, he was a lead investigator for the largest explosion in the United States – the PEPCON facility in Henderson, Nevada. It was during this time he and Joan designed what would be their retirement dream home. Once they moved in, there was plenty to do to finish off the upstairs and basement, yard work, tinker in his shop and vacation with friends and family. They loved to spend time at their Bear Lake cabin, go camping in their motorhome, and spend time in southern Utah.
John’s wife passed away from cancer at the age of 84 on May 8, 2014. In May of 2016, John was diagnosed with a very rare type of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma cancer. In June, he moved in with his daughter, Tina, while receiving treatments at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. His treatments were more involved than he expected and decided to stay permanently with his daughter. His cancer was declared in remission the morning of September 29th and that same afternoon he was told there was a large blood clot in his left leg. He was having increased difficulty with aspirating, recurring infections, falls, and leg weakness.
On January 14, 2017, John passed away in his daughter’s home, surrounded by two daughters, Tina and Myndee, and a son-in-law, Chris. John and Joan had five children, John W. Jr (Z) of Page, AZ; Linda Marie Loosle of Logan; Moriah Rae Uligh (Phil) of Kimberly, Idaho; Tina Louise King (Chris) of South Jordan; and Myndee Joan Garrett (Randy) of Herriman. They have 18 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, and two brothers. He is survived by four sisters and two brothers.
Funeral services will be held at 11 AM on Friday, January 20, 2017, at the Logan Utah Central Stake, 1255 North 600 East, in Logan. A viewing will be held prior to the services from 9:30-10:30 and Thursday evening from 6:30-8:30 at Allen Mortuary of North Logan, 420 East 1800 North. Burial will follow at the Logan City Cemetery. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.allenmortuaries.net .