Wesley Bartholomew

WESLEY EVAN BARTHOLOMEW

1924 - 2017

Sheepherder to Senior Scientist

Wesley Evan Bartholomew, 93, loving husband, father and grandfather, returned to the open arms of his Heavenly Father on July 26, 2017.

Wesley was born in Fayette, Utah on May 30, 1924 to Verna Lloyd Bartholomew and Florence Annie Domgaard, the second of seven children. He grew up on a farm in Fayette, Utah.  As a youth, Wesley was primarily responsible for watching and tending his father’s flock of 200 sheep.  Wesley indicated that he worked harder physically as a youth performing ranching work than he did at any time during the rest of his life.  He graduated from Gunnison Valley High School in 1942. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946, training as a bomber pilot for the Pacific Theater.  Wesley’s primary training related to piloting bombers to immobilize gun emplacements on Japan’s rugged southern coastline. Given the nature of his mission, Wesley was confident that he would not survive World War II. The Hiroshima bomb was dropped on the same day Wesley boarded a deployment troop transport plane from San Francisco.

Wesley and Hyla Mae Robson married on January 17, 1947 in Plain City, Utah. They were later sealed in the Logan Temple. They had five children--two daughters and three sons. They recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Wesley attended Utah State Agricultural College, graduating in 1949 with a Bachelors Degree in Aeronautics.  He also attended University of California Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in General Engineering in 1953. After graduating from UCLA, Wesley was hired by Hughes Aircraft in the capacity of an engineer and member of the Technical Staff.  Over the 35 years that he worked at Hughes Aircraft in the Research & Development department, Wesley obtained the title of Senior Scientist, the first person at Hughes to achieve that level without the assistance of having a PhD degree.  Wesley’s work was to conceptualize engineering-design solutions related to the company’s products.  While at Hughes, he worked primarily on U.S. Defense Department contracts inventing and designing radar and guidance system solutions for numerous military aircraft, missiles and other weapon systems.  In addition he contributed to designs for orbiting satellites, interplanetary probes and Space Shuttle electronics.  Wesley authored and co-authored numerous patents on behalf of his employer as part of this work.

Wesley had varied interests; specifically astronomy, geology, paleontology, family history, photography, fishing, boating, hiking, gardening and construction.  Wesley exhibited high energy, focus, curiosity, creativity and courage to tackle difficult problems.  Later in life, Wesley loved to re-visit areas where he herded sheep as a youth, in the mountains near Fayette, and Gunnison Valley in the Manti-LaSalle National Forest.  Wesley was an avid fisherman, spending many of his summer vacations camping with his family at Fishlake and Yellowstone.

Wesley felt fervently about the value of education.  Consequently he provided significant financial contributions to his grandchildren’s college educations.

Wesley is survived by children MarJene (Richard), Taylorsville; Lynette (Del), Cedar City; Greg (Radka), San Diego; and Glenn (Becky), Draper; daughter-in-law, Carol, Holladay; 26 grandchildren and 53 great-grandchildren; and siblings Mac (Vira Beth), Heber City, Fae, St. George and sister-in-law Daryle, Hurricane.  He is preceded in death by his parents, his wife Hyla, son Wynn, and brothers Milton (Celia); Varian (Lucille); Byrd (Jewel); Heber; and brother-in-law Mark.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 5, 2017 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the Lindquist's Bountiful Mortuary, 727 North 400 East, Bountiful Utah, where friends may visit family 12:30 to 1:30 pm prior to services. Interment, Lakeview Memorial Cemetery, Bountiful, Utah.

The family wishes to thank his many caregivers. We love you, Dad, and will miss you so much. Thank you for inspiring us to live life to our highest potential.