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By 'Morgan B. Adair'
Memorial Service Held for Eugene England
PROVO, UTAH -- Hundreds of friends, students, and family members of
Eugene England gathered Saturday, August 25, in the Provo Tabernacle
to pay tribute to the writer and scholar. England, 68, died of brain
cancer Friday August 17, and was buried the following day in a
private ceremony.
George Eugene England, Jr. taught and was dean of academic affairs at
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, then spent 22 years teaching
in the English Department at BYU, retiring in 1998. He then accepted
a position as writer-in-residence at Utah Valley State College and
founded a Mormon Studies program at UVSC, the first at any
university. He was the author of numerous books, essays, and
articles, including a biography of Brigham Young, and essay
collections "Making Peace," "Why the Church is as True as the
Gospel," and "The Quality of Mercy." He was a co-founder of the LDS
intellectual journal "Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought" and
served on the board of the Sunstone Foundation.
Family members and fellow writers at the memorial service spoke of
England's commitment to both the intellect and the spirit, reason and
inspiration, along with his love for the Church and his dedication to
making it better. Bert Wilson, an associate in the BYU English
Department, in a tribute read by Tom Dickenson, said that England
sought to make the Church and its members "more loving, more
accepting of differences, more Christlike." England's daughter, Jody
England Hansen, said, "He saw God in all of us."
Another daughter, Katherine England, and two young granddaughters
told of the family's "storytelling tree," where England loved to tell
his children and grandchildren stories of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight.
Levi Peterson, author of the novel, "The Backslider," compared
himself to the backsliding protagonist of his novel, saying, "As for
celestial reward and glory, it would seem that a backslider should
expect little. . . . Still I somehow expect that if, after I have
awakened from the darkness of death into the miraculous light of
eternal life, I need someone to speak a good word for me, Gene will
step forth to do it. I know I can rely on Gene to assert that my soul
is more worthy than I ever imagined."
Doug Thayer, England's friend and colleague in the BYU English
department, spoke of England's love for fly fishing. He reminisced of
some of their outings together and said that England's preference for
the longest fly rod is a metaphor for the length of his aspirations.
Source:
Memorial Service Held for Eugene England
By Morgan B. Adair 29Aug01 A2
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