JOSEPH RODLEY BAGNALL ~~~ CELEBRATES 100 YEARS ~ From Our Archives

 

Joseph Rodley Bagnall, 100, of Provo, died May 27, 2001 in Provo. He was born in a log cabin in Chester, Utah on October 23, 1900, to Joseph F. and Hannah Christensen Bagnall. He married Florence Noland of Mt. Pleasant, Utah on January 6, 1927 in the Manti LDS Temple. Joseph attended elementary school in Chester and high school at Snow Academy in Ephraim, Utah. In the late 1920's he received his Bachelor's Degree from the U of U and taught at the elementary school in Salem, Utah. Taught at the elementary school in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, and later at Moroni High School and studied part-time at the University of Utah to prepare for a career in school administration. Served as Superintendent of the North Sanpete School District in the 1940's.He Served as Representative from Sanpete County in the Utah State legislature. Served also served as manager of the Southern California Regional Welfare Ranch located in Perris, California. This splendid ranch was acquired from Louis B. Mayer and the Statler Hotel Interests, and he served all LDS as a welfare farm director for the stakes in Southern California. He earned a Master's Degree in Education from Claremont College in California. Served as Director of Adult Education for the Arcadia, California Unified School District. Served as the first principal of the Richard Henry Dana Middle School in Arcadia, California. He and his wife lived in retirement in Provo, Utah, where he opened his home to six of his grandchildren who attended BYU. Joseph served as bishop of Mt. Pleasant, Utah, North Ward, and as president of the North Sanpete Stake of the LDS Church. He also served as an ordinance worker in the Los Angeles Temple for eight years as well as the Provo Temple for an additional eight years. Survivors include his two children, Dr. Joseph Albert Bagnall of Oceanside, CA, Marilyn Rae Richards Purnell of Provo, eleven grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Florence nine years ago. Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 2, 2001, at 1 p.m. in the Cascade chapel. at the Sundberg-Olpin Funeral Home, 495 South State St. in Orem. Friends may call 11:15 a.m. prior to the services at the Funeral Home. Interment will be in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.