LAREN REED SHORTRIDGE
‘Loved to Serve’

Elder Laren Reed Shortridge, part-time service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving at the headquarters of the extraction department of the Church, was called home to his Father in Heaven on August 8, 2005, due to stomach cancer. His membership in the Church meant everything to him.

Laren was born in Montpelier, Bear Lake, Idaho, on November 21, 1945, to Spencer Reed Shortridge and Julia Marie Sleight, both deceased.

He served for eight years in the Navy in Japan and Vietnam as an aircrew member aboard the aircraft carrier CVS-14 Ticonderoga. He then transferred to the United States Air Force serving 27 years in the United States, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Peru, and Haiti. He retired from the Air Force as a Master Sergeant.

Laren enjoyed life. He was always helping someone. He was an Eagle Scout having earned twice as many merit badges than was required. He served a full-time mission from 1965-1967 in the Southwest Mexico mission. He loved the people of his mission and loved living in thatched roof huts with dirt floors and sleeping in hammocks. His mission changed his life.

After his mission he went on to study Spanish at BYU and the Church College of Hawaii. He studied biomedical equipment technology at Foothill Jr. College, and later studied electronics engineering and industrial arts a Salt Lake Community College.

Laren loved the out-of-doors and was always camping and traveling. He passed through or visited every state in the US and had been to several other countries either with the military, pleasure traveling, or while doing humanitarian aid. Laren and his wife, France, went on two humanitarian aid trips to Cusco, Peru.

Laren was the man of the block when it came to woodworking. He knew it all. He was the best cabinetmaker out there and loved to work. Laren was a guru with computers, helping everybody fix their own. He enjoyed gardening with France, reaping the benefits of the bountiful harvest. He tried his best to gather as much genealogy as possible on his family and his wife’s family. He also enjoyed teaching others how to do the same. Laren remained fluent in Spanish all his life with many of his friends speaking only Spanish.

He is survived by his loving wife, France Rimli Shortridge, and former wife, Linda Trappett. His four children;\: Ashley (Stephen), David (Julie), Samuel (Jolene), Brook (Brad), are the proud parents of Laren’s six grandchildren. He is also survived by his wonderful sister, Marilyn Shortridge Jones (Wayne), his wife’s two sisters, one brother and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held Saturday, August 13, 2005, at the Millcreek sixth Ward in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interment followed in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Many thanks go to the doctors and staff of the Utah Cancer specialists, Mountain Medical Imaging Lackland AFB Hospital, St Mark’s Hospital and Harmony Hospice.