As all who knew him can attest, Vernon Harold “Bud” Pack lived life to the fullest. He set the tone of his adventurous life when his mother had just given birth to a girl and out popped Bud, surprising everyone in the room. He grew to become a Renaissance man. You could find him wrenching on one of his classics, building cabinets in his shop, playing the guitar with his family or going to mountain man rendezvous. But he also had a gentler side to him where you could find him praying with his fellow church members, giving father blessings and serving the people in his community.
Born on April 29, 1938, in Los Angeles, Calif., he was the last of five children. Growing up, he developed interest in cars at a young age as he looked up to his two older brothers. In high school, he became a yell leader and later went on to compete in gymnastics at the collegiate level. He even took second place in a meet while representing Brigham Young University. From there, he graduated with a master’s degree in industrial arts education.
As a young man, Bud took two and a half years away from his studies to serve his church as a missionary to the Navajo people in Arizona and New Mexico (1957-1959). He fell in love with the Navajo people and would eventually move back to the area to live out the rest of his days. Alongside Judy, his sweetheart, he went on to serve as branch president in Indian Wells, as well as two more fulltime missions in his retirement years, first to Lagos, Nigeria (2006-2008), and then to Palmyra, N.Y. (2015-2016).
Through the years, he lived in Utah, Oregon and finally Arizona, where he taught wood shop, auto shop, welding and metal work, and the Navajo language. Towards the end of his tenure, he was recognized as the Industrial Arts Teacher of the Year for the State of Arizona.
He frequently expressed pride in all his children, who will miss him: Tom, Gerri, Sherri, Sarah (from his first marriage to Ruth Ann Durrant), Heidi, Michael, Joseph, Amy, Holly and Amber (from his second marriage to Judy Kay Daniels). His legacy also includes 39 grandkids and 28 great grandkids.
After longing to be reunited with Judy, his eternal companion, for over a year and a half, Bud passed away on Sept. 2, 2026, with a handful of his children and grandchildren by his bedside. He lived a robust life full of adventure and an unyielding devotion to family and to God. He was a good man.
Services honoring the life of Bud Pack will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the LDS Church, located at 1127 Helen Ave., in Holbrook.
