Jay B. Anderson

Salina, Utah - Jay Blair Anderson died peacefully on March 22, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah, nine days before his 94th birthday. Jay was born on April 1, 1920, in Centerfield, Utah, one of 11 children of Melvin W. and Ludella Tollstrop Anderson. He attended Gunnison Valley High School. Jay learned the value of hard work at a young age, and among other jobs worked in Salina Canyon tending sheep while still a teenager. Years later during annual week-long camping trips to that same area, his grandchildren would hear those stories as they hiked alongside their grandpa and sat around the campfire listening to Jay play his harmonica. Jay married the love of his life, Leah Nielsen, on February 4, 1938 in Axtell, Utah. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on June 29, 1964. Jay and Leah were a natural couple whose strengths complemented one another. They were constantly together, a support to one another for 70 years before Leahs death in 2008. Their family takes great comfort in knowing that Jay and Leah are together again. Together they worked hard to create a happy home for their four children, first in Sevier and Sanpete Counties, Utah, and later in Salt Lake City, where Jay managed the Premium Oil station and truck stop on 2100 South, 300 West for 36 years before retiring. They enjoyed camping and fishing, the Utah Jazz, gardening and spending time with their family and many friends. They were eventually able to travel to numerous foreign countries, including China and the former Soviet Union at a time when few people made such trips. They returned to Salina in retirement, where the bumper crop from Jays garden provided corn and other vegetablesbut especially his favored tomatoesto many, many good neighbors and old friends. Jay served honorably in the U.S. Army in the Pacific during World War II and had a love for his country second to none. He was active in his church and community. While not widely known, Jay was quite a poet, penning everything from loving poems to his wife, to serious poems about his country and its politics, to humorous poems about unannounced visits from the bishop. Jay will be remembered for his integrity, his gentle nature, his sense of humor, and his unwavering willingness to lend a helping hand. In every sense of the word, Jay was a true gentleman, an example to all his family. Jay will be continually missed and honored by his family, friends and all who knew him. He is survived by his two daughters, Rita Young and her husband David of Murray and Peggy Burt and her husband Doug of Eagle Mountain, 14 of his 16 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren, and four sisters: Bernice Wood of Salina, Marva Daniels of Eloy, Arizona, Vivian Larsen of Sterling, Utah, and Dellene Allred of Erda, Utah. He was preceded in death by his wife, Leah, his sons Bill and Lee Anderson, two grandchildren and six siblings. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 1:00 P.M. in the Salina 2nd LDS Ward Chapel, 85 South 100 East in Salina. Friends may call for viewing at the Springer Turner Funeral Home, 150 East Main Street in Salina, Saturday morning from 11:00 to 12:30 prior to the services. Burial with military honors accorded by the Salina American Legion Post #36 and the Utah Honor Guard will be in the Salina Eastside Cemetery under the care of the Springer Turner Funeral Home of Richfield and Salina, Utah.