Willis Hone Brimhall passed away peacefully early Monday morning, November 6th. Three days before his passing he and his wife Lynette attended a gym in Spanish Fork where they had many friends and admirers, and then he took a two-mile round trip on his recumbent tricycle from his home in Spanish Fork to the Spanish Fork River bottoms and then back again. He enjoyed the exercise and was observant of the changes of activity in the farming fields along the way through each of the seasons of a year. He was in remarkable health for a man of 98+ years and was an example to many of how to live life to its fullest.

Willis was born 17 May 1925 in St. David, Arizona to Rulon Wells Brimhall and Ida Hone Brimhall. Born into a caring and nurturing family, Willis resided with his parents in Pleasant Grove, Utah until he was eighteen. He graduated from Pleasant Grove high school and Seminary in 1943 where he excelled in earth sciences and chemistry. He entered the United States Navy in August 1943, and attended boot camp at Farragut, Idaho. The navy trained him as an Aviation Electronic Technician from 1944 to 1945. Willis greatly valued the training and experience received in high school and the Navy.

These experiences and schoolings were subsequently linked to BS and MS degrees earned at BYU and University of Arizona, 1949 and 1951. The GI Bill greatly assisted the work. An LDS mission in the British Mission followed, 1951-53. Two months after he returned, he married Lynette McRae, a student at the University of Arizona, who he met at the LDS Institute during graduate studies.

He worked for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in Butte, Montana in 1954. In August 1955 he was hired at BYU as an instructor of geology. The job initiated an eleven-year project to earn a doctorate degree awarded in June 1966 at Rice University in Houston, Texas. In 1966 Willis and his family returned to BYU where he subsequently became professor of geology, and he retired as professor emeritus in 1990. He taught engineering, geology, and chemistry at BYU. He always considered himself more of a chemist than a geologist, thus the preferred title of geochemist.

His occupation as a professor and educator as well as his life work as a husband and father of nine were both enhanced and strengthened by his faith in Jesus Christ. He taught his children and his students to seek the gifts of the spirit and to accept truth whenever and wherever it is found.

After retirement in 1990 he took up studies in music theory, piano, violin, and family history. A second mission took Willis along with his wife Lynette to the Family History Centre, Hyde Park, London, England, 1997-99.

Willis and Lynette parented nine children: Gregory (Jacqueline), Jeffrey (Cydne), Mark (Debra), Michelle (LaVor), Denise, Scott (Rebecca), Susan (Larry), Jennifer, and Debra (Ben). Two of his daughters, Denise and Debra, preceded him in passing. The couple has thirty-nine grandchildren and a large and growing number of great grandchildren.

For Willis it was a great blessing to live and to raise his family in Utah Valley and work for Brigham Young University. His life spanned two centuries, and during that time his love of God and His creations influenced countless lives. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends, but he had a great hope and faith in an even better life with family and friends hereafter due to the merits and mercy of his Savior Jesus Christ.