Calvin Reed McAffee

Washington, Utah - On Monday March 28, 2022, Cal McAffee peacefully passed away at his home surrounded in love by his family. Cal was 96 years old and was born on November 8th, 1925, in Salt Lake City. He was the oldest son of Joseph Reed McAffee and Laura Margaret Heinhold, and after his mother's untimely passing when Cal was 5 years old, his dad Reed happily met Vera Marie Reid and they married in 1930, followed by the arrival of Cal's best friend and brother Jerry Harmon McAffee. They remained the closest of brothers throughout both their lives, raising their families nearby so everyone grew together as a tight knit family enjoying the holidays and the best of Utah outdoor activities right until the end.

At the beginning of the nation's preparation for the war effort, the family move to Los Angeles, when Cal was in the 9th grade. His number came up before the end of his senior year, so he graduated early from Narbonne High School in 1944 and entered the Navy for service in World War II. He served honorably and was discharged at the end of the war in the summer of 1946, entering Brigham Young University that fall. While at the Y he was an avid skier and was best friends with Utah skiing pioneers Mel Fletcher and Earl Miller. He participated in early Alta and Park City ski patrol and spent every spare minute he could up at Timp Haven which later became Sundance. He graduated with his Bachelors' Degree in Economics and then continued at BYU to get a teaching credential following the footsteps of subsequently many educators in the McAffee family. He began his teaching career at Robert E. Peary Junior High School in Los Angeles in 1955, teaching mathematics and early computer science in data processing. He completed his master's degree in Education in 1972. He remained at Peary Jr. High until his retirement in 1986.

While he was just starting out as a schoolteacher, he attended a stake dance one evening where he met another schoolteacher, and they soon realized that they were meant for each other. He married Karma Jean Rich in the Los Angeles Temple in November of 1957, and they  bought a house in a newly developed area of Bellflower near Lakewood in one of many planned post-war suburbs that so many new families came to in the growth of that boom era of the 1950's and 60's.They soon had their first child, a daughter named Peggy Jo followed  by Bonnie Lee, Christy Ann and finally their boy Daniel Reed.

One of the advantages of a teaching career is the guaranteed summer vacations, and the Cal McAfee family enjoyed years of memories traveling back to Utah, pulling a tent trailer for some but not too much luxury, to see family and enjoy the outdoor activities he had loved. He chose to retire to the Southern Utah area because of that love and ended up in Washington in a home near Green Springs. He was finally convinced to buy a horse and enjoyed the next twenty years of his golden age participating in the Ridge Riders, the Back Country Horsemen and many local friends who would saddle up with him to explore the beauty of Zion, Pin Valley, Snow Canyon and even up Green Springs when it was possible to ride up in those hills.

Following the care in sickness and the death of his beloved wife, Karma, he ventured out into the singles activities to see what they might bring. And much to his delight, he met Janet Betty Watson and soon he and Jan were married in the St. George Temple. Jan remained his companion and loving wife until his passing, and she was a phenomenal support and fountain of love to the family.

Calvin McAffee is survived by his children, Peggy Jo McAffee Routledge, Bonnie Lee McAffee Prosser, Christy Ann McAffee, and Daniel Reed McAffee, as well as his wife Jan McAffee. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Heather Brooke Richards, Casey Lauren Montgomery, Victoria Routledge and Jakson Routledge, along with great-grandchildren Dylana Rose Miller and Calvin Alexander Montgomery.

His funeral service will be at 12 noon on Saturday, April 9th, 2022, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Capilla Ward Building at 807 Capilla Drive, Washington, Utah 84780. He will be interred in Washington City Cemetery at 1:30 that day with Veteran honors.