Deonne Vaughn Obituary (1943 - 2019)

Deonne was born on October 22, 1943 in Moorehead, Missouri. His one ambition in life was to fly. He was the oldest of 4 children and born into a family that was struggling to make ends meet. His intelligence and determination made his dream a reality when he joined the Army at 18 years of age. He took the flight aptitude test in Monterrey and passed with the highest score ever previously achieved. While serving in the Vietnam War he earned a Silver Star after rescuing two stranded soldiers in enemy territory. After the war he was transferred to Germany where he taught himself to speak the language fluently. With his drive for success he was definitely an entrepreneur. He got out of the Army and returned to Columbia, Missouri with his small family. Deonne would work any job he could to support his family including roofing and being a lineman for the phone company. He also had a keen interest in anything to do with computers. While he took classes at Columbia University he opened a store that sold and repaired motherboards. He also taught himself to write code in Visual C++. His passion for flying made him rejoin the Army. While working at Whiteman Air Base his boss encouraged him to apply for a position where he would be one of two helicopter instructor pilots in the state of Missouri. Not only did he get the job but he was esteemed by those he worked for as “The King Bull Moose”. In 2000 he retired from the National Guard. His new adventure was to write a small farming program that kept track of farm equipment and animals. It was so successful that he was encouraged to sell it at Farm Shows. Under the company name of “Livestock Managers” he wrote programs for cattle, sheep, goats, horses and alpacas, making it much easier for farmers and ranchers to keep records of anything and everything to do with their animals. Deonne met Teri online and knew it was love at first sight. However, he lived in Missouri and Teri lived in Utah. They got married on May 6, 2003 in Salt Lake City. Teri packed her belongings and moved into a 3-story house that Deonne was building by himself on 40 acres of wooded hills. In 2008, and after his youngest son moved to Florida, Teri convinced Deonne to move to Salt Lake City to be closer to family. Deonne was an amazing husband and father. He had a kind and gentle heart and love for his Savior. Once he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he spent most of his time in his workshop doing what he loved...creating furniture. Up until this day he never missed a chance to express his gratitude and love. Deonne was a rarity among men, not only for his vast knowledge about everything, but also with how kind and generous he was. He was always willing to help everyone with anything. Deonne is survived by his beloved wife, Teri Vaughn; daughter, Simona Vaughn; son, Thomas Vaughn; son, Lucas Vaughn; and grandsons: Steven Strumpf, Josef Altis, Tavin and Bleys Vaughn; A viewing will be held on Thursday, June 13, 2019 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Home, 4760 South State Street, Murray, Utah. A graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the Utah Veterans Memorial Park. Flowers may be sent to the Jenkins-Soffe address above.