Valden Cram, 79, passed away peacefully at his home in St. George, Utah on February 10th, 2018, following a long and courageous battle with cancer.
He was born on January 23, 1939 in Kanab, Utah. He was the youngest child and only son of Donald Bunting Cram and Marva Whipple Cram. As a child, he attended Kanab Elementary, where he met his future wife, Denny Averett. Val enjoyed the childhood adventures of growing up in Kanab, including hunting, fishing and horses.

Following the tragic death of his father in 1946, his mother moved the family to Tempe, Arizona to be close to her family. Val finished elementary school and high school in Arizona, graduating from Phoenix Union high school in 1957.

He joined the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1957, where he served aboard the aircraft carrier, USS LEXINGTON, as an airplane mechanic. After being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1961, he attended ASU.

While living in Arizona in 1964, he began dating Denny Averett, who was also working in Arizona. They were married on the 4th of July, 1964 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They made their home in Phoenix, where Val began a bottled water franchise. They adopted their first son, Marc Hale, in 1968. They adopted a daughter, Richelle Kathleen, in 1969. The family was sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple in 1969. Their son, Cevin Byron, was born in 1970.

Val moved his family to Kanab, Utah in July of 1975 where he built Kanab Mini Storage. Their daughter, Denae Dawn was born in Kanab in 1976. While living in Kanab, Val served many years as a Scout Master, as well as a member of the Bishopric.

While living in Kanab, Val became the ranch foreman for Deer Springs Ranch, a job that would lead to his haven from the world, his cabin. Facing the spectacular Bryce Canyon peaks, he built his cabin from the ground up on his acreage of land within Deer Springs Ranch. The cabin was his true home and where his grandchildren built their memories of him.

Val moved his family to St. George, Utah in 1985. St. George is where he became a grandfather and a great grandfather. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2015. After refusing typical cancer treatment, he survived nearly 3 years through his own alternative efforts and the dedicated care of his wife, Denny. He will be remembered as a man who loved his family and his country.

Val is proceeded in death by his parents, Donald Bunting and Marva Whipple Cram, his sister Kathleen, and many beloved aunts, uncles and grandparents.

He is survived by his wife Denavar (Denny) Lenore Cram, his children Marc (Jacque) Cram, daughter Richelle (Joe) Wilkins, son Cevin (Sara) Cram, daughter Denae (Clint) Curtis, sister Marleen (Jim) Ratliff, sister Marva Don (Chuck) Holmes, as well as 17 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins.

A viewing will be held at the LDS church at 500 W. 200 N. St. George, Utah on Friday, February 16th from 6pm-8pm.

Services will be held at the Kanab Stake Center at 20 W. Center Street, Kanab, Utah on Saturday, February 17th at 2pm, with a viewing prior from 12 pm to 1:30 pm. Interment will be in the Kanab Cemetery, with Military Honors by American Legion Post 69. Arrangements were made with Mosdell Mortuary of Kanab.