Therice Edwin Tibbitts Obituary (1933 - 2021)

Funeral services for Therice Tibbitts will be broadcast via Facebook Live on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 beginning at 12:00 PM MDT. To watch this service, please click on the link below. Click HERE to view Funeral Services for Therice Tibbitts Major Therice E Tibbitts, USAF (Retired) passed away the morning of Thursday February 4th, 2021 at the age of 87 after losing his fight with Metastatic Prostate Cancer. He was born April 28th, 1933 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Lorenzo Edwin and Lola Coles Tibbitts. He grew up on Wilson Avenue, the oldest of four children. Therice attended South High School where he was in the A capella and Symphonic Choirs. He enjoyed singing, and blessed others by sharing his beautiful tenor voice. After he graduated from South High in 1951, he attended the University of Utah where he met his sweetheart Hazel McLean. They were married March 18th, 1955 before he graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Sociology that spring. Hazel graduated in December 1955, and he was known to praise her as being smarter than he was, but while his studies officially ended in 1955, he never stopped learning. After earning his degree, Therice joined the United States Air Force, where he flew thousands of missions in various aircraft, including F-89s, F-101s, C-130s, and F-4s during the Vietnam war. However, if you dared say he went to Vietnam, he would correct you and tell you he never set foot in Vietnam. He flew the F-4s with the 497th TFS Nite Owls for a year in Thailand. After his year of service with the Nite Owls, he returned to the States to teach future Nite Owls the skills they would need for their missions. His Air Force career took him all over the world. He tried to learn about the cultures of all the places he lived and visited, and passed that knowledge onto his family, which is something that they remember most about him. He earned many awards and honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters, the Meritiorous Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He retired as a Major in 1977. After retiring from the Air Force, Therice worked another 30 years as a Teamster for Wonder/Hostess. He retired in 2001 with countless new friends. Therice was a dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He served in many callings within the church, including that of a Servicemen’s Group Leader, a Servicemen’s District Leader, a seminary teacher, and was a member of multiple Bishoprics. He and Hazel were also called to be, and served as missionaries in the Family History Center in Sandy. In his free time, Therice enjoyed several things. He loved music. Besides participating in choir in High School, he played the flute, loved to whistle, and he and Hazel had Season Tickets to the Utah Symphony. He had artistic tendencies. He built models of every airplane he flew, customizing kits to make them as realistic as possible. He also loved gardening. He kept rose bushes in the front yard of their house, which he painstakingly and lovingly tended. Therice was preceded in death by his parents Lorenzo Edwin and Lola Coles Tibbitts, his sister Thea, and his grandson Cole Wilkins. He is survived by his wife Hazel McLean Tibbitts; his brother Loel (Paula) Tibbitts; his sister Loretta (Edward) Williams; his children Lorenzo Edwin (Lana) Tibbitts, Lilley Tibbitts, Brandt (Leilani) Tibbitts, David (Hazel) Tibbitts, Shawn (Debbie) Tibbitts, Theresa Christensen, and Julia (Matt) Wilkins; his grandchildren Lyssha Troy, Patrice (Allen) McNeil, Lee Tibbitts, Jackie (Josh) Duggan, Nicole (Dan) Saldivar, Natalie (Dan) Hoffman, Cole (Heather) Christensen, Charlie (Jessica) Christensen, Alyx Tibbitts, Sydney Christensen, Devan Tibbitts, Lorenzo Tibbitts, Brandon Tibbitts, Quin Wilkins, Mikayli Tibbitts, and Dale Tibbitts; 23 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. The Funeral will take place Wednesday February 10th, 2021 at 12:00pm MST at the LDS Crescent 28th Ward Building (11626 South 300 East, Draper, UT 84020) and will also be broadcast by the funeral home. He will then be interned in the Utah Veterans Cemetery and Memorial park at Camp Williams. The viewing will be held Tuesday February 9th, from 6:00–8:00pm at the Jenkins-Soffe Funeral Home (1007 W South Jordan Pkwy, South Jordan, UT 84095). The family would like to thank Dr. Reid B. Hales for the compassion and great care he has given to Therice over the last 20 years. We would also like to give special thanks to Erin Gates of Dignity Hospice for her care of him in his last days here on earth. In lieu of flowers please make donations in the name of Major Therice E Tibbitts to the Wounded Warrior Project.