Gerhardt Schaupp

Gerhardt "Gary" Schaupp, loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, 89, passed away on February 20, 2022 at The Wentworth at Willow Creek in Sandy, Utah from Alzheimer's Disease.

Gerhardt was born in 1932 in Hoboken, New Jersey to Martin and Julie Schaupp, not long after they immigrated from Reutlingen, Germany. He was an only child, but grew up with his cousins, Doris Metzger and Eleanor Roecker, who were like sisters to him. His greatest childhood memories were spending summers with his cousins and aunts and uncles at Green Pond Lake in New Jersey. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High  School in Englewood, New Jersey having been the Senior Class President and a member of the basketball team.

Gerhardt enlisted in the US Navy shortly after high school. He met Sylvia Walther, his wife of 66 years, at a German Dance Club in Union City, New Jersey. Gerhardt left the Navy, at the request of Sylvia, after the aircraft carrier he was serving on, the USS Lehte, exploded in the Boston Harbor killing 30 and injuring 40 crew members. He enrolled at Rutger's College to earn a Health Sciences degree, but also continued in the military in the Coast Guard Reserve, dutifully serving until 1965. Gerhardt and Sylvia were married on November 5, 1955 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Passaic, New Jersey. A year later, they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Gerhardt enrolled at Marquette University. It was in Milwaukee that they were introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by their neighbors, Walter and Rosie Kindt, and were baptized on November 1, 1958. It was the Kindts that encouraged Gerhardt to move his young family to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. Gerhardt was sealed to Sylvia in the Salt Lake Temple on March 3, 1960. He graduated from BYU with a BS degree in Zoology in 1961 and taught high school sciences until he was hired at Utah Technical College and bought a home in Provo, Utah. He switched from the Coast Guard Reserve to the Navy Reserve in 1965 and then earned a Master's Degree in Health Science at BYU in 1967 and taught at the BYU Academy before he reenlisted in the Navy in 1969.

Gerhardt worked as a Navy Recruiter out of Fort Douglas until 1974 when he became a Chief Petty Officer and was assigned sea duty on the aircraft carriers USS Oriskany and USS Coral Sea, as Chief of Personnel. He moved his family out to Novato, California and then Ventura, California, where he was made Senior Chief of Personnel at the Port Hueneme Naval Base in 1978. He retired from the Navy in 1984. He was in the Navy for 21 years and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

After retiring from the Navy, Gerhardt returned to teaching high school sciences. A highlight of his life was working for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools as a high school teacher in Ansbach, Germany for seven years. During this time, he was able to connect with his relatives that were living in Germany. He retired from teaching in 1994, and with his wife Sylvia, served two local office missions for the California Ventura Mission and another full-time mission in the Iowa Des Moines Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The next 12 years he volunteered at the Channel Islands National Park Visitor's Center, Community Memorial Hospital, and as Commander of the Disabled American Veteran's Chapter in Ventura, California, until his diagnosis of Alzheimer's, which he has suffered from for over 10 years. Gerhardt and Sylvia moved back to Utah in 2020 to be closer to family and reside in Cottonwood Heights.

Gerhardt never knew a stranger. He loved his Savior Jesus Christ, his wife and family, his heritage, and the U.S.A. He enjoyed adventures and traveling around the world. He lived his life in the service of others. He was a great example to his family and all that knew him. Although he will be greatly missed, he is now free of his diseased mind and body, and reunited with his family on the other side.

Gerhardt is survived by his wife Sylvia (Walther), son Daniel (Dori) Schaupp of Lancaster, South Carolina, daughter Pamela (Del) Thornock of Concord, California, daughter Ingrid (Rick) Marshall of Murray, Utah, son Erich Schaupp of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, eleven grandchildren and twenty-two great grandchildren.

There will be a funeral service on Friday, February 25, 1:30 p.m. at Cannon Mortuary, 2460 E. Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Followed by a graveside dedication at 3:00 p.m. at Holladay Memorial Cemetery, 4900 Memory Lane, Holladay, Utah.