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Linda Cannon Aukshun writes: I am certain this a student we went Joaquin School with. I don't know if he went to Provo High but he would have. Is he on the list? I found this in the Orem City Cemetery web site. Could you put this on the class website to see what anyone knows about this. My understanding that he was los on a ship while serving in the miliary.
I just care that he's not forgotten somehow. Eva Jean Reynolds, Hintzes, Lynda Lee Davis, Richard Anderson, John Hall, Ann Sumsion, Steve Spendlove, Carolyn Liston all went to Joaquin.
August 10, 2010.
Hey Bob,
I met Kay's wife years ago. I think Gwen, my sister, knows some detail about Kay. I think he has a daughter and his wife remarried. All this was years ago. I will call Gwen and see what she can remember and let you know. I remember him from Joaquin days. He lived just west of the school as I recall.
Kathy Davis Allman 8/10/10
Kay was born May 21, 1942 and died in 1962.
Linda Cannon Aukshun writes: I am certain this a student we went Joaquin School with. I don't know if he went to Provo High but he would have. Is he on the list? I found this in the Orem City Cemetery web site. Could you put this on the class website to see what anyone knows about this. My understanding that he was lost on a ship while serving in the miliary.
I think he was lost at sea or killed on his boat I just care that he's not forgotten somehow. Eva Jean Reynolds, Hitzes, Lynda Lee Davis, Richard Anderson, John Hall, Ann Sumsion, Steve Spendlove, Carolyn Liston all went to Joaquin.
August 10, 2010.
Hey Bob,
I met Kay's wife years ago. I think Gwen, my sister, knows some detail about Kay. I think he has a daughter and his wife remarried. All this was years ago. I will call Gwen and see what she can remember and let you know. I remember him from Joaquin days. He lived just west of the school as I recall.
Kathy Davis Allman 8/10/10
Kay was born May 21, 1942 and died in 1962.
8/11/10 - As I thought more about Kay, I recall that he married LaNae Riggs, Neil Riggs' older sister. Neil married Gwen, my sister. They did have a daughter. He was killed at sea. His nick name was Sonny. I will find out more when I talk to Gwen. Neil played basketball for Provo High. He was in the class behind ours.
Hi Everyone,
Yes, Kay Van Wagenen was a member of our class. He went to the Joaquin Elementary with us and lived on the corner of 500 South and 600 East.
I didn't know he had passed away.
Linda Wightman Fleming 8/11/10
Hi Bob, I knew Kay VanWagenen, as he lived only a half a block away from me on 5th North between 5th and 6th East, by the playground of the Joaquin School. His sister, married William Walker, a General Authority of the LDS church, who is currently over the building of all the temples. William Walker and his wife were over the Tokoyo South Japan mission, (he was President) when our daughter Jody Johnson, served a mission there. Mrs. Walker told Jody she was from Provo and where she lived, and Jody said that is near where my Mom grew up and my Grandma lives there still. Small world. I don't remember him after grade school, junior high
, but he may have joined the service. I don't think he was weird. He was our age and in school with us. Thanks again for all your hard work to make the reunion such a success. It was great!!!!!
Eva Johnson - 8/11/10
Kay (sonny) VanWagenen was killed when he was in the Navy. It seems like he was hit in the head when a cable broke. I think I'm talking about the same person.
Jon Hall - 8-11-10
Hi Bob,
You are a great detective. Way to go in finding Kay Van Wagenen's grave marker. I do remember him, but in a way which is diametrically opposed to what Linda Cannon seems to think and remember about him. I remember him as being a very nice guy. He was tall, dark, quiet and quite a nice kid. I don't remember when or how long I knew him, but I must have been shortly after I moved to Provo from Canada. I'm not sure what schools he attended or why I don't remember him from high school, but I sure other classmates remember him.
Wayne S. Clarke - 7/11/10
I am Kay's daughter. Yes, he did attend your school. He was killed on active duty with the US Navy in April of 1962, on a ship near Puerto Rico. From Kaylynn VanWagenen Stacy on April 4, 2013 by email. mjstacy1694@sbcglobal.net
Bob Valentine received this email on April 4, 2013 and sent his daughter some of these notes.
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Robert Y Valentine
Bob Valentine received this email on April 4, 2013:
I am Kay's daughter. Yes, he did attend your school. He was killed on active duty with the US Navy in April of 1962, on a ship near Puerto Rico. Signed by Kaylynn VanWagenen Stacy - Her email address is mjstacy1694@sbcglobal.net
Robert Y Valentine
Hi Bob,
Thank you for sending all of this to me! It’s so nice to know that my father is not forgotten by his peers, despite his early death.
Some of the remembered information is absolutely correct: Kay attended both Joaquin School and Provo High School. He was indeed tall, dark, and quiet/shy - but there was a jokester hiding behind that shyness! He joined the US Navy soon after high school and was married in 1961 to my mother, Lynnae Riggs (also a Provo High graduate and the older sister to Niel Riggs who was KIA in Viet Nam, leaving his own widow and child (my Aunt and Cousin, Gwen Davis & son Eric.) Very early in their married life, Kay was fatally injured due to a cargo accident on board his ship, the USS Duval County. He was quickly transferred to a hospital ship – the USS Francis Marion – but could not be saved.
Kay had three sisters who may have also attended Joaquin School and/or Provo High….Nan, Kathy, and Sandra VanWagenen. But as near as I know, none of them were ever married to a “William Walker, LDS Church G.A.” I think that the classmate who offered this might have their memories of him mixed up with someone else. None of my father’s immediate family, except my mother and I, are members of the LDS Church.
I want to thank you again, Bob, for sharing this with me. Because I was born only a few months after his death, I did not have the opportunity to “know” my father personally, but must rely on the memories of those who were fortunate enough to know him and interact with him during his short life. You and his Provo High Classmates have given me a few more threads to add to that tapestry of his memory. I appreciate all of your efforts to find and remember him along with his Provo High classmates. Go Bulldogs! J
Kaylynn VanWagenen Stacy
Posted April 5, 2013
Raymond Hintze
I knew Kay (Sonny) VanWagnen very well. I lived a half block from him. He lived in the first house west of the Joaquin School fence on 500 north. This was just west of the backstop on the ball diamond. I recall his dad and mom. I lost track of him after elementary school and don't recall him attending Farrer Jr. or Provo high. I did hear that he joined the navy and was killed onboard a ship while unloading freight. Sonny, as we knew him, was very quiet, slender, black hair and glasses. I do recall his sense of humor. One of my best memories is of him in a fist fight with my twin brother, Richard, and my mom running over to break up the fight which was in his front yard. Don't know what the fight was about. No one was seriously hurt. Ray Hintze