In Memoriam

08/07/1941 ~ 4/19/2024

A lifelong Avenues resident and the GACC newsletter editor and webmaster for many years, Dave worked professionally as an editor for the Salt Lake Tribune. We appreciate Dave’s long-time service to the Avenues and dedication to telling our Avenues stories with professionalism! 

David Preston Jonsson, 82, died April 19, 2024. He was born to Rueben L. and Kathryn Preston Jonsson, in Buffalo, New York, on August 7, 1941, four months before Pearl Harbor. His family lived in Buffalo and Williamsville until 1946 when his father accepted a transfer back to his home state of Utah. When the family arrived in Salt Lake City, there were just two houses available for purchase: a chicken farm in Kearns, and a small cottage on H Street. His dad chose the latter.

David attended Longfellow Elementary School, Bryant Junior High School and East High School, graduating in 1959. He enrolled at the University of Utah and due to his love of photography, became involved in the Daily Utah Chronicle and the Utonian Yearbook. He was head photographer of the Utonian in 1963.

David’s dad had died in 1956, and his widowed mother had a meager income so David worked from the time he was 15. In college, he had up to three jobs at once, and as a result, it took him five years to graduate with a degree in Journalism. For a summer, he was a photographer for the Murray Eagle.

In 1964, David landed a dream job with The Salt Lake Tribune almost simultaneously with marrying Leigh Ann Best whom he met at a student orientation in the University of Utah Student Union.

He was first a photographer for The Tribune, but soon became a reporter. It was a career that put food on the table for 30 years.

David also became a member of the board of directors of the Newspaper Employees Credit Union, and was its chairman when, in 2016, it merged with a larger credit union that offered its members vastly increased and improved services.

In 2009, David became the volunteer editor of the monthly newsletter of the Greater Avenues Community Council, a role in which he served for ten years.

David always loved repairing things and do it yourself projects. He regularly took his family camping around Utah, with his great friend James “Jim” Johnston and his family. He dabbled in short film-making on Super 8 film, model airplane building, and CB radio, where his handle was “Snapshot,” but most of all, he loved photography and developing his own pictures, back in the day when film was king. His son Jeffrey inherited his love of photography, and followed in his footsteps also becoming a yearbook photographer, and then writer for the Daily Utah Chronicle.

David made many life-long friends at The Tribune and continued organizing regular lunch dates with a group of them until very recently.

David’s life was his family, and loved spending time with them most of all, attending plays in which his son Jeremy and several grandchildren performed, assorted school programs and recitals, and gathering all together as often as possible.

David is survived by his wife of 60 years, Leigh Ann, and sons Jeffrey (Launie Hansen) and Jeremy (Jennie Tobler) and five spectacular grandchildren: Ellie, Gwen and Preston and Katie and Maggie.

He is also survived by a sister, Carolyn Wright, and brother-in-law Robert H. Best. David was predeceased by a sister Nancy Handley, and his brother-in-law Dennis Wright.

5/18/1939 ~ 04/11/2024

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson’s family described him as “the eternal optimist” who “loved people and people loved him back.” They added his priorities in life were centered around “family and public service.”

“We are honored that his memory will live on in the legacy he built as Salt Lake City Mayor, through the countless people he has taught and mentored, his decades of humanitarian service, and his mountaineering accomplishments,” read the statement.

The Democrat led Utah’s capital city from 1976 to 1985. During his tenure, Wilson was known for being environmentally-minded. He supported the protection of public lands, even if they were not in his direct jurisdiction. Wilson worked to expand green spaces and established landmark historical and foothill preservation ordinances within Salt Lake City limits.

Wilson also oversaw the reconstruction of the Salt Lake City International Airport and improvements to the city’s sewage and water systems.

In July 1985, Wilson left the mayoral office before the end of his third term to run the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics, where he served as director for nearly two decades.

Wilson was born in Salt Lake City and graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s in political science.

He also left a lasting political legacy that has carried onto his children. He is the father of seven, including two stepchildren from his marriage to Holly Mullen. His daughter, Jenny Wilson, is the mayor of Salt Lake County. Wilson was surrounded by his family when he passed.

“He built and nurtured many deep and meaningful friendships and would remind us all to ‘never sweat the small stuff,’” Wilson’s family said.

1951 ~ 10/1/2024

Patricia Jean “PJ” Secrist (nee Childs)

Patricia Jean (Pat or PJ) Secrist, 72, of Salt Lake City, Utah, passed away peacefully on October 1, 2024 in Salt Lake City.

Pat was born in Salt Lake City to France and Frona Childs in 1951. After a few years, the family moved to Richfield, UT, where she spent her childhood years developing a life-long love for friends, books, animals, and nature. She learned to play piano, guitar, and flute. Richfield always remained dear to her, even after the family moved to Bountiful, UT. There, as a beautiful high school senior, she met David Secrist, a young college guy, at Lee’s Cafe, where she worked as a hostess. They dated steadily for a year before getting married. They moved to Cody, Wyoming where they spent five years working for different oil companies, making lifelong friends, and riding horses. During their time together, they raised three fine young men, Cory, Chauncey, and Craig, who recruited Heather, Tiffany, and Jules into the family. They have one grandson, Traven. Numerous pets were also brought into the fold. Pat elected to stay home to take care of the boys when they were young. Eventually, she reentered the workforce, and had several careers, each being a step up from the last. In her time at Williams Northwest Pipeline, she enjoyed her work and built lifelong friendships with many of her colleagues. She volunteered for the United Way, Red Butte Garden, the local library, and the Avenues Street Fair. Pat and Dave traveled the world, developing and broadening their appreciation for the other people and wonders of this planet. She had a good life.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents and is survived by her husband, David; her children, Cory, Chauncey, and Craig; recruits Heather, Tiffany, and Jules; and grandson, Traven; as well as her little feline buddy, Bogo.

She will be dearly missed.