Kimball Vance Jr.

Kimball Roland Vance Jr. passed away Monday, March 14, 2016.  Born March 15, 1953 in the old Salt Lake City County Hospital, Kimball died at home in his apartment, which had been built on the same land where the hospital in which he was born formerly stood.  Kimball was born to Kimball Roland Vance Sr. and Shirley Wheeler Vance Park and was the oldest of seven siblings.  Although born in Utah, Kimball’s life also took him to California, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho.  Kimball was loved and admired by family and friends for his brilliant intellect, humor, and multiple artistic talents.  He will be missed.

Kimball started his writing career at age 6 when he solicited his mother’s help to publish a neighborhood newspaper, which he sold for 5 cents a copy.  Kimball would walk around the neighborhood collecting important neighborhood news such as “Tommy’s mother let him keep the stray dog,” and “Allen’s dog had four puppies.”  He would write the articles and he and his mother would print them off on a gelatin duplicator.

Kimball’s mother would often call her young son Ferdinand the Bull.  While the other boys played ball in his backyard, Kimball would go off on his own to study bugs and other critters he found in nature.  On many subjects Kimball was a walking encyclopedia.  Beginning at a very young age he would devour information on any subject that caught his interest, and he remembered everything he read.  He especially loved cars, animals (particularly reptiles), plants, books, news, world events, sports, movies,theatre, and family history.

Kimball grew to be 6’7” with a strong athletic physique.  His hard work and discipline put him in high demand with both basketball and football coaches.  He played basketball at Western High School in Las Vegas, taking the 1971 state championship in his senior year.  On a whim, Kimball took a theatre class and ended up with the staring roll in Flowers for Algernon which resulted in a theatre scholarship offer from U.N.L.V.  However, also offered both football and basketball scholarships, he accepted a full ride basketball scholarship at Weber State College in Utah.

Kimball’s love of writing took him to Los Angeles, where he graduated from L.A. City College with a major in Theatre Arts.  He acted in several theatre productions and accepted a position as Artist-in-residence.  After graduating he went on to co-write and co-produce a lunchtime theatre satire entitled The Edge of Our Hospital, performed at the De Lacey St. Theatre in Pasadena to sold-out audiences.  Kimball authored several screen plays and a published short story.  He was finishing a collection of his short stories at the time of his passing.

People who knew Kimball loved his wit and his mastery of the English language, which he applied along with his beautiful deep speaking voice to his love of news and current events as host of a morning news radio talk show in Salt Lake City.

While pursuing his artistic talents Kimball also became a successful businessman, owning a number of real estate holdings and handling all the property management responsibilities himself.

Kimball is survived by his mother Shirley Wheeler Vance Park; siblings Tracy Rypien, Kristen Muse, Chip (Michelle) Vance, Amanda (Brian) Johnson, Richard (Naomi) Vance, and John (Jill) Ferrier; and numerous beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins.  Leslie McCandless and Maretta Vance were former wives and remain friends of Kimball.

He was preceded in death by his father, Kimball Vance Sr. and his step mother Dorothy Saunders Vance.

The family wishes to thank Kimball’s dear friend Anna Raner for all the love, friendship, and adventure she brought into his life this past two years.  Kimball treasured her friendship.

One of Kimball’s favorite sayings was “I always wished I was a short Jewish comedian!”  But we loved all 6’7” of him, just the way he was.

Graveside services will be held Friday, March 25, 2016 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Memorial Park at Layton, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.  Friends may visit family Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.