Rulon Olsen Gilbert

Rulon Olsen Gilbert March 5, 1937—April 26, 2020 Rulon Olsen Gilbert, 83, peacefully passed away at his home on April 26, 2020 in Twin Falls, Idaho. While his health declined over the past year, Rulon’s wish to stay in his home was made possible by the devoted and faithful care of his beloved wife, Kreen (Hartman) Gilbert. This June 8th, they will have been married 59 years. We give special recognition to Dr. Ippolito, nurses Buffy and Annie, aides Joel and Carl, and all the other hospice workers who helped care for Rulon over these past months. Their professional, compassionate service has been a tender mercy for both Mom and Dad. We are deeply grateful. Rulon Olsen Gilbert was born on March 5, 1937 in his Grandmother Eliza Jane Gilbert’s house in Arcadia, Utah to Thomas Martindale Gilbert and Cecilia Caroline Olsen. Arcadia was a small, close-knit farming community and growing up, Rulon was surrounded by a wonderful assemblage of aunts, uncles, and cousins. It wasn’t until his later childhood that he realized that not everyone he considered family was actually a blood relative. As Rulon put it, the members of his community were family, blood or not, and he was blessed by the people who put their hand in to raise him and guide his life. Rulon was grateful throughout his life for his close connection to his family, particularly his siblings. He had three older brothers and five sisters. One brother, Thomas, passed away at 17 months of age from whooping cough, and his youngest sister, Laurel, lived only one day. The surviving siblings--Jack, Evelyn, Naomi, Gayle, Mildred, and Martha--were devoted to each other their entire lives. They loved talking on the phone or getting together at family weddings, reunions, holidays, and any other providential opportunity. These wonderful, sustaining family relationships have continued from one generation to the next. Our sense of identity, our understanding of what family is, and what we hope for in the next life are based on the meaningful family relationships we observed between Rulon and his siblings. This family tree is an anchor for our lives, balm of Gilead in our trials, and an incomparable source of joy--family is, in truth, a sacred endowment. Rulon attended Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah where he enjoyed playing basketball and football. His love of sports continued throughout his life. While he enjoyed baseball and basketball, Rulon was particularly devoted to BYU football. For 38 years, Rulon bought season tickets to the BYU football games. Every home game, Rulon made the four hour pilgrimage to Provo, Utah; after the game, he drove the four hours back so he could be home for Sunday church. Throughout his childhood and youth, Rulon worked on the family farm. This family enterprise, which included a small dairy as well as the farm, was profoundly labor intensive. When Rulon reflected back on his early years on the farm, he marvelled at how much the world had changed over the course of his lifetime. As a young boy, he remembered the first time they turned on a light bulb in their cement farmhouse thanks to the Rural Electrification Act. As a youth, he farmed using a team of horses and he milked their dairy cows by hand. At the end of his life, Rulon unwittingly found himself in a world of cell phones, space travel, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence. He often mused that scientific progress didn’t necessarily equate “human progress.” When Rulon graduated from high school in 1955, he worked the family farm instead of going to college because his older brother, Gayle, was drafted for the Korean War, and Rulon’s help was needed on the farm. When Gayle returned, Rulon briefly attended BYU from 1956-1957, but after that year, he returned home again to work on the family farm. Thereafter, Rulon continued his education only informally. Though Rulon had only a minimal formal education, he was a remarkably educated man due to his keen intellect, broad-ranging curiosity, and love of reading. Throughout his life, Rulon read voraciously on a wide variety of topics: history, politics, religion, evolution, physics, astronomy, aviation and so forth. One of the enduring and endearing memories shared among his children is Dad reading on the couch in the evenings. In 1958 at the age of 21, Rulon served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the North Central States Mission. Rulon’s mission was foundational in the development of his testimony and life-long devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through profound challenges and periods of great loss, Rulon remained steadfast and immovable in his testimony and faith. Indeed, to the end, he resolutely expressed his confidence in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the glorious promises of the Gospel. Rulon’s faith and testimony are one of the greatest legacies he leaves for his family: we do not doubt our father knew it. On July 1, 1960, Rulon returned to Arcadia, Utah from his mission. Only four days later, on July 4, he attended a rodeo at the Altamont rodeo grounds. In Rulon’s words, “There, I saw a very freckled young lady riding a lively Thoroughbred stallion. She sat on the horse as easily and naturally as if she were an extension of the animal’s body. She was the rodeo queen and was destined to become my wife.” Thus began a storied romance that culminated in Rulon Gilbert and Kreen Hartman’s marriage on June 9, 1961 in the Salt Lake Temple. Their love story has endured over 60 years and has produced a wonderful, devoted, fun-loving, raucous, close-knit, joyous family: Lynette Gilbert (1962-1965) Kristi and Joseph Gilbert Ouahib with children Danielle, Stephon and Chantal (Orem, UT) Michele and David Coleman with children Cecily, Kindey, Michael, Sarah, Thomas (2007-2011) and Becca (Twin Falls, ID) Melinda Gilbert and Melissa (Moe) Hagman (Boise, ID) Nadamayi (Nicole) Shanti and Phil Shambaugh (Boise, ID) Floid and Laura Gilbert with children Kira Woodhouse and Rulon (Twin Falls, ID) Rulon worked very hard throughout his life to provide for his family. Notably, Rulon had a very entrepreneurial spirit and for most of his life, he ran his own businesses. Shortly after Rulon and Kreen married, they moved to Cove, Oregon where Rulon started hauling logs to the sawmill in Le Grande, Oregon. It didn’t take long before Rulon decided that the only way he could make this work financially was to buy his own truck. So, he sold his share of the family farm in Arcadia and used the proceeds to purchase a logging truck. It was hard work with long hours, but Rulon was able to provide for his young family. Over the course of his life, Rulon frequently worked in the trucking industry, always buying his own trucks and working for himself. In his 60’s, Rulon started his own trucking company, Gilbert Trucking and Transport, to haul mattresses for Everton Mattress Company in Twin Falls Idaho. He successfully ran this company for many years, refusing to retire until he was 74 years old! Another one of Rulon’s entrepreneurial ventures was starting the residential care facility, Purple Sage Manor. One of the original reasons Rulon started this business was to care for his twin sisters, Mildred and Martha. His sisters contracted an undefined illness in infancy which left them both mentally and physically impaired. By starting this facility, Rulon was assured that his sisters would be properly cared for. But his sisters were only two of the many residents who passed through Purple Sage Manor during the 40 years that Kreen and Rulon ran this facility. Throughout that time, Mom, Rulon, family members and staff provided stable, caring, and watchful care for mentally ill and cognitively disabled adults. Indeed, Purple Sage had a reputation throughout the State of Idaho for providing the highest standard of care for its residents. To this day, Kreen and Rulon are still involved in the lives of many of their clients who love them. This is one of the great legacies of their lives. While work was a core principle in Rulon’s life, he did make time for fun with his family. His children, grandchildren, family members, and friends can remember wild rides on tubes behind snowmobiles or the boat. Dad had a particular zeal for crack-the-whip, and he would laugh gleefully at the screams and howls of his hapless, albeit willing, passengers. Another endearing and memorable quality was Rulon’s lifelong love of music, especially classical music and opera. He grew up in a household filled with songs and hymns, and he learned to sing and harmonize with his parents and siblings. Some of his siblings played piano, banjo and ukulele, and together they drafted many original performances for friends and family. Rulon also took part in community productions, such as The Mikado, where he performed the lead, Nanki Poo. Rulon enjoyed all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas to such an extent that, for his and Kreen’s 50th anniversary, their children wrote a parody of The Mikado called The Gilbado which was a celebration of Rulon and Kreen’s courtship and marriage. Rulon’s great love of music has been instilled in his children and grandchildren, and continues to be an important part of all their lives. His children have vivid memories of going to sleep at night with Beethoven’s 9th symphony ringing through the house, or trucking runs accompanied by Pavorotti’s greatest hits. (Rulon was certainly an unconventional trucker!) One of the most widely held memories is Rulon’s singing in church. Members of every ward he attended or visited heard Rulon’s confident tenor voice soaring above the congregation. Indeed, ward and family members have remarked that every time they sing In Humility Our Savior, they remember Rulon’s voice singing the high tenor line. We feel that Dad would enjoy that as a lasting tribute. Rulon O. Gilbert was preceded in death by a daughter, Lynette; grandson Thomas Coleman; his parents Thomas and Cecilia Gilbert; three brothers and five sisters. Rulon was the last surviving member of his family. His brother, Gayle, preceded him by only 22 days. These two brothers were close throughout their lives, and it seems they were not to be long parted by death. Rulon devoted his life, labor, and love to his family. He loved being around his children, grandchildren, and extended family. Family events (both immediate and extended) were particularly important to him; he would make personal sacrifices and travel great distances to ensure he was present for important family gatherings. His grandchildren remember Grandpa’s shirt pocket always being full of candy, his booming singing voice in Sacrament Meeting, and, of course, Dad’s legendary canon of jokes. At the end of his life, Dad tenderly expressed that when he met his Savior, he felt confident of one virtue: that he had learned to love his children unconditionally. We felt that Dad. Thank you for a lifetime of love. We love you. Those who wish may share memories and condolences on Rulon’s Memorial Page at www.magicvalleyfuneralhome.com. If you have any particular memories of Rulon, including his jokes, please feel free to share them with us. This is the best gift you could give. If you would like to view Rulon's Graveside Service please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPpneM_xTvk&feature=youtu.be