Obituary

Well, here goes. Celebrating the life of your child in a few short words or paragraphs just isn’t realistic. The person I knew: my baby, my toddler, my precious teenager who grew up to be such a wonderful man will take at least another lifetime to describe.

And I will! I will share his love, his life, his kindness and generosity with everyone I meet. He set such a great example to all of endurance, patience, compassion, never-give-up attitude and perseverance. The memory of his spontaneous laugh, his big gentle-giant hugs will always be there; just for me to find when I need it. In life, he was ever available to laugh and give me hugs when I needed it. He could joke and tease me out of a bad mood; he comforted me when I was down. His kind, gentle soul will forever live in all of our lives and memories.

The fact this gentle giant was taken from us so early tells me he was too good for this earth. He was here just long enough to teach the rest of us how to love, have compassion and hopefully be better humans.
Michael struggled as a child with others being unkind to him. He didn’t let it bother him though; he was still kind, always showing by example to teach others how to love and have compassion.
I guess here’s the condensed version then: Michael Moroni Rawlins was the impersonation of pure LOVE and CHARITY, and much, much more. When you leave our gathering today, I have a special request: write down for me what comes to mind when you think of Michael. You can use the program or the paper provided. I will have a special basket for them. Thank you.

Michael Moroni Rawlins was born on September 5, 1983 in Orem, Utah, to Jon Barry Porter and MaryJane Enke. He was the oldest of five children. His parents divorced and his mother remarried Stephen Bernard Rawlins. Michael took on his stepdad’s name. Michael grew up in Tucson, AZ. Michael learned how to run several pieces of construction equipment: bobcat, excavator, backhoe at age 12. He graduated from Marana High School. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and became a forklift operator at different warehouses. He had a brief struggle with covid, passing after less then a week at St. Mark’s hospital on October 12, 2021.
He loved his wife, son and family very much. His hobbies included welding, Minecraft, computer building and model trains.

His family and friends will always remember this gentle, kind, loving, compassionate soul. He was truly too good for this earth. He is survived by his wife Penny, his son Alex, mother-in-law Tiffiny, sisters-in-law Ashley and Vicky and brother-in-law, CJ. Others: his mother, MaryJane (David), sisters Rebekah (Conor) Amy (Tim), Susanna (Sean) and brother Stephen (Miranda) and his adopted father (Steve).
We would like to thank St. Mark’s hospital staff for their kind, compassionate care and heroic efforts to save his life. Thanks to all who have expressed care and love to the family in this hard time.

Funeral services will be held October 23, 2021 at 3900 S 4000 W, West Valley City, UT 84120. Viewing 1100-1145, service starts at 1200. There will be a luncheon after the services. His burial will take place at 4567 Redwood Road, Taylorsville, UT, date and time to be announced later. Funeral services provided by Kramer Family Funeral and Cremation in West Valley City, UT.