Wehrli Douglas Pack (1889-1975)

From the January 10, 1937, Salt Lake Tribune.

  Blessed with a truly unusual first name, businessman, Mormon leader, and political figure Wehrli Douglas Pack was for many years one of Holladay, Utah's most distinguished citizens. A one-term member of the Utah legislature, the exact meaning behind Pack's odd first name "Wehrli" is unknown at the time of this writing, as are several other details in regards to his early life. The son of Ward Eaton (1834-1907) and Selena Carpenter Pack (1864-1900), Wehrli D. Pack was born in Laie, Oahu, Hawaii on July 28, 1889. Ward Eaton Pack was the father of seventeen children and was a prominent figure in the early days of the LDS Church, being one of the first Mormon missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands during the 1850s. He served in the Utah territorial legislature in 1876 and 1880 and later made a second trip to the Islands during the 1880s.
  Wehrli D. Pack returned to Utah with his family at age two, according to a 1937 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, and as an adolescent attended the Uintah Academy and the Summit Academy. He continued his education at Brigham Young University, though his exact graduation year remains undetermined at the time of this writing. Pack later spent time in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, and for the majority of his life was a prominent businessman in Salt Lake County, being the president of the "Pack-n-Save" market in the city of Holladay. This market (with its wonderful play on Pack's last name) had its grand opening in 1935, and in addition to serving in this capacity Pack was a "master mechanic, radio engineer, and farmer." He was the founder of the Utah Radio Products Company and in 1926 filed an application to patent a type of loudspeaker. Five years later he was issued a patent for his invention, and is recorded in his Salt Lake Tribune obituary as a "pioneer in radio."
  Pack married in Salt Lake City in 1917 to Lucile Adelia Hart (1890-1921) a native of Bloomington, Idaho. Their marriage proved to be short-lived, as Lucille died in July 1921 at age 30. In the year following her death, Pack remarried to Ruth Mildred Fisher (1902-1956), to whom he was wed for over thirty years. Wehrli Pack was the father of several children, including Douglas Hart (1918-2000), Ramon Hart (died in infancy in 1919), Lucile Bernice Pack Slack (1921-1999), Mildred Pack Jolley (1923-1999), Ward Elden (1925-1998), Wallace Dean (birth-date unknown), Lillia Pack Martindale (birth-date unknown), Annette Pack Frederickson (birth-date unknown), Melvin (birth-date unknown) and Donna Gail Pack Eggertson (1943-1999).

From the September 10, 1936 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune.

  Active in Holladay civic affairs in addition to his grocery business, Pack served as the President of the Holladay Civic League for several years and also was the finance committee chairman for the Mount Olympus Latter Day Saints ward. In 1936 Pack was elected as one of Salt Lake County's representatives to the Utah State Assembly, taking his seat in January of the new year. In a Salt Lake Tribune notice on his election in November 1936, Pack is quoted as describing himself as a "conservative progressive" and that he favored a "direct primary law and changes in the law enforcement setup with a view to eliminating waste and inefficiency". During his one term in the legislature, Pack took part in a study of "proposed laws affecting Utah grocers" as a member of the committee of the Utah Retail Grocer's Association. 

   In 1938 Wehrli Pack was named as a Bishop for the Mt. Olympus ward of the Latter Day Saints Church. He succeeded Charles E. Coxe, who had died some weeks prior. In December 1940 the Murray Eagle published an article denoting the creation of a new place of worship for the parishioners of the ward, with Pack and his counselors trying to "uphold the standards of the ward and continue the splendid work begun under the leadership of Bishop Coxe". Busy as both a legislator and church leader, sources of the time denote Pack's personal hobbies as "scientific experiments" and tinkering in a workshop in his home. The Salt Lake Tribune also notes him as being a skilled fisherman, mountain climber, and a member of the local Masonic fraternity and the Utah Sons of Pioneers.

  In 1956 Pack's wife of over thirty years died. Following Ruth Fisher Pack's death, Wehrli remarried for a third time in March 1957 to Louella Pederson (1904-1977), a native of Big Cottonwood, Utah. Little could be found on the later years of Pack's life, although it is known that he authored an extensive history of his family entitled "A Bit of Pack History" which was published in 1969. Wehrli Douglas Pack died at his home in Holladay on October 23, 1975, at age 86, and was later interred at the Salt Lake City Cemetery. He was survived by his third wife Louella, who died two years later at age 73. Lucile Hart Pack and Ruth Mildred Fisher Pack are interred at Salt Lake City Cemetery as well.

From the Murray Eagle, December 1940.