Cecil Frank Shurtz, age 96, passed away on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at home in Delta, Utah. He was born October 31, 1923 to Frelen and Stella Shurtz in Parowan, Utah. He was the third of nine children. When he was 2 years old, they moved to the Bullen Ranch in Abraham. For most of the rest of his life, he made Millard County his home. He attended school in Delta, where he really enjoyed wrestling and he followed Delta Wrestling for years.
In 1943, he was drafted and decided to join the Navy. While stationed at Pearl Harbor his job was loading torpedoes onto the submarines. He said that he actually made more money setting pins at the local bowling alley than he did for his military service. He decided that he wasn’t seeing enough action in the war effort so he and a buddy decided to volunteer for sub duty. When they went to the Commander; they were told that there were no openings on a sub but there was one aboard ship. The commander said whoever guessed closest to the number he was thinking of would get the position. Cecil's luck held out and his guess was closest and soon he was on the USS New Orleans where he advanced to Water Tender 2nd class. Eventually a sub opening did become available and his buddy transferred onto the sub. A short time later the sub was sunk in battle and his buddy was killed. In 1946 he was honorably discharged from the Navy and headed home.
In 1948, he married Marie Day and they had a son, Keith. After Marie passed away in 1949, he married Barbara Davis in 1950, together they had 5 more children. She passed away in 1991 and he married Shirley Boothe in 1992 and they spent the next 20 years traveling. Borders were no problem, but his favorite place to visit was Alaska; he spent many wonderful weeks enjoying the scenery and fishing to his heart’s content. After she passed away, he married Sharon Shumway. He was a devoted and loving husband, taking care of them throughout their lives.
His hobbies included, four-wheeling, vehicle restoration, traveling, hunting and fishing. He especially enjoyed taking his razor out and baha-ing it across the West Desert; he related that a few times he actually rolled his four-wheeler over the top of him. He took great pride in restoring vehicles and enjoyed showing them off at the annual Delta Car Show where he won several awards.
He had many church callings including counselor in the Bishopric, young men advisor, and scout leader to name just a few. He was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served with faith and dedication. His beliefs were inherent with him.
He was a farmer at heart and enjoyed getting his hands dirty by fixing equipment as a mechanic. He attended Utah State where he learned aircraft mechanics and learned to fly. He liked diesel engines better than gasoline ones which earned him the name of Cecil the Diesel.
He is survived by his children: Keith (Jerry) Shurtz, Peggy Walker, Lisa (John) Talbert, Cory Shurtz; 14 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren, 3 great-great grandchildren; sister: Colleen Jurgens; brothers: Elden (Ireta) Shurtz and Jay (Yvonne) Shurtz. Preceded in death by his parents, five brothers: Guy, Lane, Kent, Keith, Alden; one granddaughter and one grandson
Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, June 16, at 11:00 am, at the Delta City Cemetery. Viewings will be held at the Nickle Mortuary on Monday evening, 6:30-8:00 pm; and Tuesday, 9:30-10:40 before traveling to the cemetery.