Obituary

Dr. Jerry Hill Scrivner, age 68, of Elk Ridge, UT, left our lives--but not our hearts--on Monday, October 12, 2020. He was born January 10, 1952 in Long Beach, California to Lois Blanche Mauchley and Bryce Hill Scrivner. On December 28, 1977, he married Wendy Lorraine Maeers. They were married almost 43 years.

Jerry grew up in the beachy suburbs of 1960s southern California. He loved the great outdoors and had an abiding interest in animals and wildlife. From an early age, he kept crickets, pigeons, and pet dogs like Snooker, who used to pull him on his skateboard--and was responsible for a crash or two. He was an early adopter of skateboards and surf culture, quickly turning in his longboard for a short board of his own making. He spent his days on the beach for several teenage years before serving a mission in Toronto, Canada, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In 1977, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a BS in Zoology, followed by a Master’s degree in Wildlife and Range Resources from the same institution in 1980. Four years later, he achieved his PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University.

Jerry moved with his family around the West in pursuit of a career in science. He worked on a ranch in Texas, a coyote research facility in Northern California, and for the Department of Energy studying kit foxes, kangaroo rats, and blunt-nosed leopard lizards in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1994, he began his favorite and final job as a professor of biology at Brigham Young University, Idaho, where he was known for his enthusiastic teaching style, field study programs with students on the Oregon coast, and an uncanny impersonation of a polyp. He served as Associate Dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Jerry served as bishop of the 6th ward of the Rexburg East Stake from 1999-2004. He was known for his compassion, interest, and love for each individual in his ward family. He was gentle and sincere and accepting. He also served Rexburg as a member of the Community Health Center Resources Committee and helped in their efforts to organize and fund a clinic to serve the medical needs of underprivileged citizens of Madison County.

Dad had a deep curiosity and love of the planet. With Wendy, he visited all seven continents, and many, many ecosystems. He loved the national parks (and all of the visitors’ centers!) and traveled to every single park in the lower 48 states, plus a few in Alaska and Hawaii. There were a few others he fully intended to get to--one of these days.

At home, Dad was a kind and calming presence. He was invested in the welfare and education of his two children, Shaun and Christi, as well as the interests and welfare of his extended family. As a self-taught artist who worked in pen and ink, he “doodled” intricate scenes influenced by 1960s psychedelic art, Mormon culture, and literature. He spent summers waterskiing, camping, hiking, biking, and travelling with his family. In his final years, Parkinson's disease gradually subtracted many of the things he loved to do from his life, but he bore his fate with positivity, good humor, kindness, and *just* the right amount of denial. We will miss his humility, his steadiness, his honesty, and the logical, fair way in which he viewed the world and its people.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Wendy, of Elk Ridge, Utah; his son, Shaun, of Boise, Idaho; his daughter, Christi, son-in-law, Peter, and grandchildren, Caleb and Clara Leman, of Provo, Utah; his sister and brother-in-law Janice and Jeff Gallup of Springville, Utah, and their children and grandchildren; and his uncle Glenn Scrivner and family of Port Hueneme, California. A private family service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2020.