Richard Zenger

Richard Christain Zenger    December 21, 1935 – July 25, 2021

Richard was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Ishmael and Helen Cable Zenger.  He spent his early childhood years in Garfield, Utah.  His family moved to SLC after his parents divorced and his mother married Albert Abelhousen, who became a beloved father to Richard.

Richard learned how to work hard at a young age, as he mowed lawns and did other yard work for neighbors to earn spending money.  He had a very inquisitive mind and became very adept at all things mechanical.

He met his beloved wife, Mickie Cook, while working on a car at her father’s garage.  As she had helped her father fix cars, her knowledge of the tools impressed Richard and before long the two were married.

One of his many professions through the years was car mechanic and his skills and talents fixing cars were put to the test the many times his teenage grandchildren asked him to fix a car they had crashed.

Richard spent 2 years in the Army, stationed near Seattle.  He worked as a high school science teacher, a fry cook, a car mechanic, a “scout” for farmers, a computer repairman, and considered himself to be a “jack of all trades, a master of none.”

Education was important to Richard, and even though he dropped out of high school, he took the necessary steps to return to school and ended up earning a BS degree from U of U and did graduate work at Arkansas State University.

Mickie and Richard spent 54 years together prior to her death in 2012.

Together they had four children:  Dirk (Darcy), Darren, Robin, and Adam (Shelby).  They were blessed with 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Richard’s kind, gentle spirit will be missed by all who knew him.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, July 31, 2021 at Lindquist’s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 N. 400 E. where friends may visit family from 9:30-10:30 am prior to services. Interment Centerville City Cemetery.

Services will be live-streamed and may be viewed by scrolling to the bottom of Richard’s obituary page at www.lindquistmortuary .com

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