Duane H. Berrier, age 89, died in Farmington, Utah, on July 14, 2022. He was born November 9, 1932, in Lyman, Wyoming, to Leah Jane Voss Berrier and John Lee Berrier. He grew up on a small family farm milking cows and hunting wild game in the Uinta Mountains with his father and brothers. At an early age, Duane was an avid tinkerer and fixer of many different types of electronics and machinery: tractors, bicycles, toasters, washers, dryers, radios, motorcycles, cars, engines, especially his beloved and everlasting “Christmas Tree Truck.”
In high school, he studied agriculture, played the French horn, led the band as a drum major, wrote, photographed and edited the year book, held a state track record, participated in an electronics club, and played on the basketball team. He graduated from Lyman High School at the top of his class.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, which led to his first engineering job in 1955 at Boeing Airplane Company in Seattle, Washington. That same year, he fulfilled his ROTC commitment by enlisting in the Army reserves as a second lieutenant commissioned officer and later transferred to the Signal Corps. He also managed the Army Rifle Range and Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges as part of his military service.
Starting in 1958, Duane served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Vienna, Austria, and Zurich, Switzerland, where he learned to speak German. He returned from his mission in 1960 and married his waiting sweetheart LuAnn Turpin on March 3, 1961, in the Salt Lake City Temple. During their first seven years of marriage, Duane and LuAnn lived in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah, area and Fontenelle, Wyoming, working for the Bureau of Reclamation out of the Salt Lake City Regional Office. He was later transferred to Page, Arizona, in 1968 where he was an electrical engineer at Glen Canyon Dam for 26 years. Some of his many responsibilities included designing the radio communication and security systems inside the dam. He formally retired as an electrical engineer in 1994, but his love of meeting new people and sharing his wealth of knowledge and history about the Glen Canyon Dam kept him working as a “damn” tour guide for an additional 22 years.
Duane was a devoted husband and father and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served in bishoprics and high councils and loved traveling for meetings on the Navajo Reservation. He loved going to the shooting range with his family; he was an excellent marksman. Duane planted a vegetable garden every year; his tomatoes were the best. His greatest joy in life was his family.
Survivors include his nine children: Janene (Wayne) Southwick of West Jordan, Utah; James D. Berrier of Mesa, Arizona; Michelle (Keith) Hamby of Bettendorf, Iowa; Steven (Patricia Ramirez) Berrier of Tempe, Arizona; Robert (Patricia) Berrier of Renton, Washington; David Berrier of Gilbert, Arizona; Angela (Stephen) Clary of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Wade (Cheryl) Berrier of Farmington, Utah; and Susan Berrier of Sonora, California; 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; and sibling Dorothy (Charles) James of Springville, Utah. He was preceded in death by his lovely wife LuAnn; his four brothers John, Lewis, Kendall and Gordon; and his parents. He was well loved by many and will be greatly missed.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 30, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. (AZ) at the Page 1st Ward Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 313 S. Lake Powell Blvd, Page, Arizona. Interment in the Page City Cemetery. Services directed by Mosdell Mortuary of Kanab, Utah.
