John Waldemar Van Cott (1911-2006)

Vita

 * Born: 24 June 1911
 * Married: 12 August 1937
 * Died: 7 March 2006
 * Burial: Salt Lake City Cemetary Salt Lake City Utah USA

Parents

 * Father: Frank Victor Van Cott (1863-1938)
 * Mother: Annie Marie Anderson (1882-1970)

Spouse(s)

 * Emily Schoenhals

Child list

 * Ann Van Cott

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Family history
Van Cott, John Waldemar Orem, Utah US John and Emily Van Cott

BYU Faculty & Staff, early 1960s. John Van Cott. Biology teacher. HIS OBITUARY: John Waldemar Van Cott, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away Tuesday, March 7, 2006, at the ripe old age of 94, surrounded by his loving family. He was born to Frank Victor Van Cott and Annie Anderson Van Cott on June 24, 1911, one of six children, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. As active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, John Van Cott and Emily Schoenhals were married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 12, 1937, followed by a honeymoon on their Harley-Davidson to the Pacific Coast. They loved the outdoors -- skiing and hiking in the mountains. Their family came first, and they loved nothing more than piling the kids into their station wagon and heading for the ocean. John worked for the U.S. Grazing Service and Forest Service. During WWII he was a Sergeant and then Lieutenant in police work on the Atomic Bomb Project in Washington. After the war, with his degree from Utah State University and his love of nature, he opened his own business, the Van Cott Pet Shop & Aquarium. In 1960, he moved his family to Orem/Provo where he taught biology at BY High School. He then moved on to Brigham Young University in the Botany Department for the next 16 years. He retired in 1976 and went on to complete and publish his dream project -- the book, Utah Place Names. He had a testimony of the gospel, which he demonstrated by example. He served in the Bishopric, quorums and auxiliaries of the church. He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Emily Schoenhals of Salt Lake City, and his oldest daughter, Ann Van Cott (Jim) Palmer of Kentucky. He was extremely grateful for the love and support of his family and friends, and said often in his later years, "I've had a wonderful life."