David Clifton Thayne
David Clifton Thayne was born May 31, 1939 in Provo, Utah to Clifton Earl and Mirla Greenwood Thayne. He was thrilled to serve an LDS Swiss Austrian Mission and then graduated from Brigham Young University with Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in music in 1964 and 1974 respectively.
His love of the arts led him to devote his life to teaching music, singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and performing with many bands and other musical groups. David married his "Darlin'" (Darlene Peterson) on June 27th, 1973 in Salt Lake City. They traveled the world together and seldom missed their "date night" of going to the movies, theatre, concerts, social groups, lectures and dances.
Family Life
His greatest pride and joy in life was his children: Matthew (Julie) of North Salt Lake; Melissa (Greg) Watts of Los Gatos, CA; Trisha (Joe) Paul of Salt Lake City; and Devin (fiancé Stephanie Cockrell) of Bountiful. Some of his most precious times were spent making memories with his nine adorable grandchildren (and Gizmo). His hobbies included videography, photography, gardening, traveling, skiing, biking, politics and listening to NPR. He enjoyed keeping in touch with his classmates from Provo High School by helping to organize Class of '57 reunions. David was a freethinker and enjoyed deep discussions with his friends and family. He spent his retirement taking classes at the University of Utah, skiing (42 days this year), connecting with friends, and making everyone laugh.
David Clifton Thayne passed away unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage on June 14th, 2010 at the age of 71 surrounded by his family at the University of Utah Hospital. He was a kind and gentle soul to all living things and will be sorely missed.
