Donald LaVere Wardle

Donald LaVere Wardle, age 94, passed away on July 23, 2007 of natural causes. He was born on January 29, 1913, in Roosevelt, Utah, to Jedediah Wardle, Jr., and Isabella Holfeltz Wardle. He graduated from West High School and served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the North Central States. He married Lucile Smith in the Salt Lake Temple on September 15, 1941.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Don entered the United States Army on June 6, 1942, and spent the next 27 years in the service of his country. During the war, he spent two years in the Southwest Pacific Theater, including duty in Hiroshima, Japan, shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped. Subsequent assignments took him to Italy, Germany, Japan, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Among other decorations, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Army Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.
Don retired from the Army in 1969 and went to work as manager of a Holiday Inn motel in Virginia, then subsequently for the Veterans Administration Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the Division of Memorial Affairs. In 1980, while with the Veterans Administration, Don was instrumental in working with LDS Church leaders on the design and approval of the LDS emblem to be placed on headstones for LDS servicemen. During his Veterans Administration service, he was awarded the Congressional Award for Exemplary Service to the Public.
Don was a High Priest in the Union Fort 7th Ward. He served in many capacities in the church wherever he lived, including ordinance worker in the Washington, D.C. Temple.
Don is survived by his wife, Lucile; sons Donald R. and Steven; granddaughters Jenny Anderson (Kyle), Emily Kirkendall (K.R.), and Rachael Stewart (Eddie); grandson Gregory; and great-granddaughter Abigail Anderson. He was preceded in death by infant daughter Lana Ruth, his parents, sisters Erma Gelruth and Thressa Beecher, and brothers Lloyd, Wayne, and Howard.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 27, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. at the Union Fort 7th Ward chapel located at 6770 South 500 East in Midvale. Viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. before the funeral services. Interment at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
The family extends special thanks and appreciation to Margene Luke and the staff at Affinity Hospice, Garden Terrace Alzheimer's Center, and SereniCare Funeral Home for their loving devotion and service.