Theophil Erni

LOGAN, UTAH - Theophil Erni, 81, passed away at the Logan Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 after suffering from many years of congestive heart failure, lymphedema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was born on March 20, 1929 in Bern, Switzerland to Werner and Johanna Brunner, the sixth of eight children. His mother died giving birth to the last sibling.

At the age of two, he contracted diphtheria which at the time was usually fatal but he survived with an emergency tracheotomy surgery. After a lengthy stay at a Swiss hospital, Theo “Phili” Erni was placed into a foster home by the Swiss welfare department. He lived with his foster parents, Abundi and Babetta Schmid and then with his foster sister and husband, Klara and Bruno Ingold while doing his electrical apprenticeship until his emigration from Switzerland to the USA in October of 1949. His first job in America was as a maintenance electrician at the LDS hospital in Idaho Falls where he helped remodel the entire electrical system.

Theo helped his sweetheart, Elizabeth Aebi, immigrate to America in March of 1950. They were married in Idaho Falls on Friday, October 13, 1950, and he moved with his new bride to Logan, Utah to be next door to his foster sister. He worked for a year for the Cache Valley Electric Company and helped to rewire the former Bushnell Hospital in Brigham City when it was converted into the Intermountain Indian School campus. When this job was completed, he joined the work force at the USU Physical Plant Department where he was employed for thirty-six years. He built a new home in the backyard of his property which is now Hillside Circle. After his retirement in 1987, he realized his dream by building a Swiss Chalet cabin at Bear Lake West overlooking the entire lake.

He served in the Elder’s Quorum and in the Sunday School Presidency in the old Logan 10th Ward. Theo and his wife started a dancing program for teenagers in the ward utilizing skills learned by attending a dancing school in Switzerland. Initially, it struggled to survive but eventually most all of the youth and some of the older folks enjoyed ballroom dancing. The program mushroomed in the 1960’s and became a church wide program involving thousands of dancers.

As a member of the old 10th Ward, he was ordained a Seventy and later as a High Priest in the Logan Central Stake 29th Ward. He was preceded in death by his parents, foster parents, and two brothers Hans (Emilie) and Walter Erni and a sister, Elsa (Fritz) Schlegel.
Surviving are his spouse, Elizabeth; daughter, Christine Lord, Logan, Utah; sons, Martin (Darlene) Erni, Cleveland, Utah; Konrad (Rosie) Erni, Atlanta, Georgia; and Bernard Erni (Gina) Lakewood, Washington; eleven grandchildren; two great -grandchildren; and the following brothers and sisters still living in Switzerland: Hanna (Adolf) Thoeni, Werner (Regina) Erni, Ruth (Alfred) Mischler and Ernst Erni.

A viewing will be held from 10:30 am to 11:30 am on Saturday, June 26, 2010 at Allen Mortuary of North Logan, 420 East 1800 North in North Logan, Utah. Funeral Services will follow in the same place at 12 noon. Dedication of the grave and burial will follow at the Logan Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared at www.allenmortuaries.net .