Jonathan Jay Moody

Jonathan Jay Moody

March 10, 1989 ~ June 9, 2022

Jonathan Jay Moody, age 33, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at his residence in South Ogden.

Jonathan was born at the Army Hospital on Fort Wainwright, Alaska, near Fairbanks, on March 10, 1989. His teenage birth parents’ made the unselfish decision to place Jonathan with the State of Alaska for adoption to a family that could provide him with the love and stability he needed.

On March 21, 1989, Jonathan was placed in the loving arms of his new family, father Dennis J. Moody, mother Laura (Probst) Moody and his big sister Tamra, making this family complete. Jonathan’s adoption was more than a family event, it was a post-wide event for Fort Greely, Alaska, near Delta Junction, Alaska, at the end of the AlCan Highway, where the family resided. The JAG office assisted with the family with the legal paperwork, the Criminal Investigation Division did the family’s background check, the Army Fire Department personnel conducted the home safety inspections, and the Post’s Medical Clinic did the physical examinations for the family. The social worker from the Ft. Greely Family Services Office conducted in-home visits, as did the social worker from the Alaska Division of Family and Youth Services office in Delta Junction. With the Post’s Commander’s support, most of this was completed within the four days between St. Patrick’s Day and when the family traveled to Fairbanks to receive Jonathan. Baby Jonathan belonged to the whole community and nearly 60 people attended the baby shower held in his honor at the LDS Delta Branch church building’s Relief Society room.

Jonathan was a physically active child. By the age of 18 months, he figured out how to climb up on top of the refrigerator to get to the cookie jar. At two years old, after having a 4 ft. tall chain-link fence installed around the family‘s quarters on Fort Riley, Kansas, Jonathan promptly climbed over the fence to go to the nearby playground. When he was three years old, he asked his father to remove the training wheels from his little bike because he didn’t want the other children to think he was a baby. He took swimming lessons until the only lessons left for him to attend were those for Life Saving and he was only about 10 years old. Jonathan played soccer, recreation football, Junior Jazz basketball and T-ball. When he advanced to Little League and competition baseball, he had a natural talent for fast, accurate pitching and the running speed for stealing bases.

When Jonathan’s family moved to Utah in 1992, Jonathan also got to know his large, extended family. Jonathan spent lots of time with his maternal grandmother, Alice (Probst) Jensen. She attended many of his athletic events, but really enjoyed taking Jonathan out for all-you-can-eat pancakes. She was always amazed at the number of helpings this slender boy could eat. His paternal grandmother, Jean Moody, had a small farm in West Haven, so Jonathan learned to love and care for animals by helping his father raise turkeys, chickens, rabbits, and beef on her farm. He had a special, close connection with two of his male cousins, Brian Knowles and Ryan Valentine. Brian was six years older than Jon and Brian’s older sisters were the same age as Jon’s sister Tami, so when the girls got together, Brian and Jon were able to visit together as well. Ryan is 14 years older than Jonanthan, but he played and enjoyed sports, just like Jonathan. Ryan’s family lived in California, but he attended Ricks College and Weber State University for a time, so Ryan visited his grandmother frequently. Ryan became known as the “Big Dude” and Jonathan was the “Little Dude.”  Later in Jonathan’s life, Jon became the “Big Dude” to his nephew, Link Bagley. On a family trip to Germany in 2017, Jonathan and Link were roommates at the various hotels where the family stayed. At places like LEGOLAND Deutschland, Jonathan was the only one who could really keep up with six-year-old Link. Jonathan’s father’s older brother, Ed, lived only 90 miles from the family when they lived in Kansas and then Uncle Ed moved back to Ogden just months before Jonathan’s family moved to North Ogden, so Jon was very close to his Uncle Ed. Dennis, Ed, and Jon became the fishing threesome.

Jonathan often acted impulsively without thinking of the consequences. This led to Jonathan finding himself in difficult, sometimes life-threatening situations. In August of 1998, at the age of nine, he was at a friend’s house without supervision when a loaded handgun was found by the boys and Jonathan was shot in the upper right chest. The angels were watching over him that day, as the bullet missed all arteries injuring only his right lung which quickly began to heal itself, so Jonathan made a quick recovery. That day Jonathan’s family was blessed to gain 24 more years to be with him.

Jonathan struggled during his teens and early twenties to find his place in the world. Then, at age 26, he was hired to work at Cache Commodities, a livestock feed supplier in West Ogden. The work was very physically demanding and dirty, but Jonathan seemed to blossom there. As he gained more confidence in himself at Cache Commodities, he began to explore how he could grow there as an employee by learning yard management skills and the use of the technology in this business field. He made good friends there. Unfortunately, with the Covid lockdowns nation-wide, the national livestock businesses experienced major downturns and Cache Commodities closed.

With the closing of Cache Commodities, Jonathan began struggling again with life. As the months turned into two years without finding a new path, Jonathan’s self-destructive choices escalated, leading him to lose his life last Thursday.

Jonathan is survived by his father, Dennis J. Moody and his mother, Laura J. (Probst) Moody of North Ogden; his sister, Tamra L. (Moody) Bagley and brother-in-law, Jared C. Bagley and his ‘little Dude buddy” Link G. Bagley, of Alpena, Michigan. He also survived by four uncles and three aunts, Ed Moody of Washington Terrace, Joanne (Probst) Valentine of North Ogden, Karen (Probst) Knowles of Ogden, David Probst (Carol) of Pleasant Grove, Dean Probst of South Jordan, and Ralph Probst of San Fransisco, California, special cousins Ryan Valentine of Lindon, Brandon Probst of South Jordan, Lisa K. Munns (Shane) of North Ogden, T. J. and Curtis Pollard of California, and 16 more cousins. Jonathan is also survived by his special lady friend, Bailey Crane.  He was proceeded in death by grandparents Clifford C. and Vera Jean Moody, and John E Probst and Alice (Odd) Probst Jensen, uncles John Moody, Gerald Moody, Leo Moody, Roger Valentine, aunt Colleen (Probst) Pollard, and cousins Jeffery Valentine, Steven Knowles, Brian Knowles, and Jimmy Moody. 

Funeral services will be held on Friday, June 17, 2022 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s North Ogden Mortuary, 2140 N. Washington Blvd. with Stake Presidency Councilor Mark Malan officiating. Friends may visit with family on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the mortuary. Interment, Ben Lomond Cemetery, North Ogden.

The family, especially Jonathan’s mother, would like to thank Dan and Ashley Salinas, Mark Malan, and Mark Mackley for the friendship and love they freely gave Jonathan during his life. There are still angels walking among us.

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