In Memory

Lynn L Wilcox - Class Of 1965

Salt Lake City, UT-Lynn Lawrence Wilcox, M.D. valiantly completed his earthly sojourn December 23, 2017. He lived a vibrant, generous, and ambitious life, yet felt great peace as he trusted in Jesus Christ to lead him in the next step of his eternal progression. 
Lynn entered the world on November 6, 1946 in Ogden, Utah, the second of six children born to Lynn J. and Bernice Criddle Wilcox. His formative years on his parents' farm in Syracuse gave Lynn a foundation of hard work, as well as an appreciation for the beauty of both the earth and of life itself. These characteristics infused the remainder of his life as he set consistent goals and found satisfaction in achieving them, and as he paused to reflect on his progress and his faith as he spent time engaging in the natural world. Hunting and fishing refreshed Lynn's perspective with gratitude for God's creations in the wild tableaux of mountains, fields, and streams; cultivating expansive gardens gave him a creative avenue and a prolific means for sharing his bounty with family and friends.
Lynn married Shirley Burnett in the Logan, Utah Temple in July of 1969, beginning a fifty-year partnership characterized by devotion and love. Together they worked through the years of medical school, internship, and residency at the University of Utah, living simply, frugally, and happily. With a spirit of patience and charity, they helped each other face the ongoing and encroaching effects of myasthenia gravis, polycythemia rubra vera, three types of cancer, and other health challenges. They found joy in sharing their favorite places with each other and with their family as they retreated often to Mink Creek, Yellowstone, and Hawaii's Big Island. 
Together Lynn and Shirley raised five daughters, making family life their central focus. With the addition of five sons-in-law and fourteen grandchildren, they found a burgeoning supply of humor, fun, and enduring friendship. Grandpa Lynn enjoyed stopping at Maverick for snacks en route to the cabin with the grandkids as they set out for weekend work projects and evenings around the campfire. He was the anchor in a dedicated and rousing family cheering section at U of U football games.
Lynn practiced gastroenterology for more than thirty years, establishing, along with Dr. Wes Keller, Gastroenterology Associates at St. Mark's Hospital. Lynn's attention to detail, his thoroughness, and his approach for treating patients with the same respect that he desired as a patient in others' care made him a compassionate and effective doctor. He and Shirley took their young family on three separate sabbaticals to New England (Yale University), the Pacific North West (University of Washington), and England (Oxford University). He designed these extended learning trips as a means to keep current in his field while also offering his children new and memorable cultural experiences. 
With his favorite scripture of Proverbs 3: 5-6 always ready to share in his daily conversations and Instagram posts, Lynn genuinely did trust in the Lord with all his heart. His testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ permeated his church service-in the elders' quorum, the singles' ward, the LDSSA Delta fraternity, the care center, the ward choir, and the jail. Regardless of where he served, Lynn applied the same dedicated approach in using his spiritual gifts to minister to his brothers and sisters in the gospel.
Lynn anticipated a joyful reunion with his relatives who preceded him in death, especially his parents and his beloved grandpa, Lawrence Criddle. He is survived by his best friend and eternal sweetheart, Shirley; daughters Lisa (Joe) Prudden, Amber (Matt) Reed, Megan (Jeff) Goates, Kate (Greg) Nance, Sarah (Tom) Call and fourteen grandchildren: Henry, Annabelle, Savannah, Max, Jack, Beckett, Michael, Georgia, Charlie, Oliver, Raleigh, Auguste, Truman, and Alice; sister Itha Rampton, and brothers Dean, Don, Doug, and Con Wilcox. 
Lynn's family wishes to express deep gratitude to his hospice nurse, Mandy, for her kind, attentive, and capable care during the last two months.
Funeral services will be Saturday, December 30th 2017 at the Holladay North Stake Center, 4395 S. Albright Drive (2145 E.), at 11:00 AM, with a viewing beginning one and a half hours prior to the service. A viewing will also be held Friday, December 29th from 6:00-7:30 PM at the same location. Interment at Holladay Cemetery, 4900 S. Memory Lane. Funeral Directors: Memorial Holladay-Cottonwood Mortuary. Memories may be shared at 
www.memorialutah.com