Nyals T. Andreason

Salina, Utah - Nyals T. Andreason completed his sojourn in mortality on July 30, 2011. He was born on June 4, 1916 in Salina, Utah - the son of Thorvald Andreason and Ruby Olson Gee. He was the second born in a family of five and was the only boy. His sisters were Bessie, Vivian, Bonnie and Kathryn. He attended school in Salina and in high school was student body treasurer, active in speech and drama and graduated as valedictorian in 1934. He then attended Snow College where he participated in intercollegiate speech and debate and reeived an A.A. degree in 1936. He subsequently attended the University of Utah where he received his B.S. degree in 1938 - the first of his family to obtain a college education. While at the U of U he was active in drama and acted in several plays at Kingsbury Hall. In 1938 he also obtained a teaching position at Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah. It was there that he met his eternal companion, Mary Alta Fox, while participating in an M.I.A. dance program. On June 12, 1940 they were married in the Salt Lake temple and sealed for time and all eternity. Shortly thereafter, at the age of 25, he became a teaching principal at the Koosharem School. His first son, Nyals Anthony Andreason was born in Vernal, Utah in April of 1941. After the start of World War II he applied for and was granted a commission in the U.S. Navy. His second son, Aaron Winston Andreason was born in October of 1943 while he was awaiting his call to active duty. He then traveled with his wife and two sons to Boston, Massachusetts where he received training as a Communications Officer at Harvard University. During the war his service career in the Navy was spent in the Pacific on an admiral’s staff coding and decoding top- and ultra-secret communications. After the armistice the Navy asked him to stay on as a career officer but he decided instead to return to his chosen career in education. From 1946 to 1948 he served as the Principal of Alterra High School. He subsequently completed an M.S. degree in Educational Administration at the University of Utah and spent 2 years at the University of California at Berkeley working on a doctorate in Educational Administration. In 1950 he and his family moved to Norwalk, California where he served as a school principal for 31 years. It was while living in Norwalk that his third son, Jon Kristjan Andreason, was born in May of 1954. In total, his 39 years in public education included 4 years as a teacher and 35 years as a principal. His sons attended school through high school in Southern California. Nyals T. Andreason was always an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many church positions including bishop and as a high councilor on 5 different High Councils. Nyals and Alta Andreason were also members of the Southern California Mormon Choir and participated in the Southern California Oratorio Society. While in California he was also active in civic affairs, serving two years as president of the Norwalk Coordinating Council, 10 years on the Y.M.C.A. board of directors and 20 years as a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts of America. He was also the charter president of the Norwalk Exchange club. He and his wife Alta Fox Andreason were members of the Southern California Mormon Choir. Each year this organization presented Handel's "Messiah" in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium with a full orchestra. In 1982 Nyals and Alta Andreason returned to Salina where they built their much-loved retirement home. While there they served a two year mission in the Richfield Family History Center. They also took the opportunity to travel to Europe, Alaska, Mexico and Central America. He was active in the Salina Lions Club and spent a year as president. For 6 years he was president of the Salina senior citizens organization and he served 12 years on the board of directors. He was elected to the Salina City Council and also served as mayor of Salina. In 1992 Nyals Andreason was honored as a distinguished alumnus of Snow College. He dearly loved his wife, sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He loved life, was an optimist, had a life-long love of learning and was a man of high moral integrity. He was loyal and dependable in his Church service, to his friends and to the organizations with which he affiliated. Nyals was proud of his posterity. His sons Aaron and Jon served foreign missions and all three of his sons were university graduates. He had 10 grandchildren and has 19 great grandchildren at the time of his passing. On December 28, 1994 his grandson Aaron Winston Andreason II was killed in a car accident near Missoula, Montana, one week after his 18th birthday. On March 12, 2005 his eternal sweetheart passed away and on December 11, 2006 his oldest son, Nyals Anthony Andreason, also completed his mission in mortality. His son and grandson were interred in the Pioneer Cemetery in Salina near the gravesite of Mary Alta Fox Andreason, where Nyals’ remains will also be interred. He was looking forward to joining his eternal sweetheart and other loved ones on the other side of the veil. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 2, 2011, at 11:00 A.M. in the Salina 3rd LDS Ward Chapel, 85 South 100 East in Salina. Friends may visit with the family at the Springer Turner Funeral Home, 150 East Main Street in Salina, Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 10:#0 prior to the services. Burial with military honors accorded by the Salina American Legion Post #92 will be in the Salina Pioneer Cemetery under the care of the Springer Turner Funeral Home of Richfield and Salina, Utah.