Donald Hartley Putzier

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, Don Putzier, passed away peacefully on February 1, 2021. He was born in Battlecreek, Iowa on March 16, 1931 to John Joachim Putzier and Ellen Anna Lena Lill Putzier. Don served his country as a member of the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the USS Suisun Tender ship during the Korean war. He married Arlene Blanche Coyle and had 2 daughters – Allison and Kathleen. After their marriage dissolved, Don met, fell in love and married Carolyn Daun Cooley Putzier. They had 3 daughters and 1 son – Laura, Julie, Robin and Donald Steven, who preceded him in death. Don was very devoted to his family and shared his love and sense of humor with each family member individually. He had a great way of making everyone feel that he loved them the most. His life stories were captivating and humorous. He had a special way of telling these stories.

His accomplishments included: teaching himself to read at the age of 3; while working at General Dynamics, he took a test to get in on the ground floor of computer programming and scored 2nd highest in the nation without a college education. He later became a Senior computer Programmer Analyst. He was known throughout the nation as the man to call when problems needed to be solved. Don was contacted by NASA to resolve an issue for Apollo 11 that they couldn’t figure out. He resolved it within an hour which allowed NASA to continue with the space launch. He was hired by the government, as a civilian, to create the 1st computer-generated payroll system to pay the military during the Vietnam war.

Don was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served in many callings, including: Elder’s Quorum President, High Priest Group Leader and Executive Secretary. Don and Carol were sealed in the Jordan River Temple on February 15, 1992.

Don is survived by his wife, Carol; daughters, Allison (Richard) Young, Kathleen Doerr, Laura (Stephen) Villoria, Julie (Kay) Thayne, Robin (Rommel) Grepo; daughter-in-law Deena (Lloyd) Richie; Siblings, Richard (Betty) Putzier, Joann Rose, Nancy (David) Zeman; 17 grandchildren; 23 great grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his brother, Gene Putzier; son, Donald Steven Putzier and his granddaughter, Whitney Villoria. Funeral services will be held Friday, February 5, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the Valley View Memorial Park and Funeral Home located at 4335 W. 4100 S., West Valley, UT 84120. A family viewing will precede the service on February 5th at 10:00 a.m.