Acel Bingham, our beloved and cherished Husband and Family Patriarch passed away in Cedar City, Utah on Wednesday August 3, 2011, 5 days after his 90
th
birthday. He had been in the Kolob Care & Rehabilitation Center in Cedar City for almost a month. Our Family extends our appreciation to that facility for making his last days more bearable and pleasant. Indeed, on his 90
th
birthday, his family and the staff of Kolob showered him with attention, songs and a special tribute for being a WWII Veteran (presenting him with a plaque and playing his Navy song "Anchors Away"). It would be one of the last times we'd see him tapping his foot and fingers to a beat. He had an absolutely Grand Day at the last!
Ashel (Acel, Ace) Calvin Bingham, Jr. was born in Fort Duchesne, Utah (Uintah Basin) on July 29, 1921 to Ashel Calvin and Grace Eudora Casper Bingham, the 9th of 12 children. Ace married Ruth Mae Wedig on June 11, 1941, after courting her from about the second grade through high school both graduating from Roosevelt High School. They were meant to be together almost their entire living lives! Ace and Ruth have had a long and happy life together. They have lived in the Uintah Basin (Myton), Carbon County (Hiawatha and Dragerton), Salt Lake area, and finally the past 24 years in St. George, Utah.
Ace served proudly in World War II, serving his full U.S.A. Navy Signal Corp duty in the Pacific, aboard the USS Sibley (a troop transport). He has always been a very proud and patriotic American 68 years later (even more so as time marched on). Ace was an outstanding athlete during his life and won many awards and accolades in baseball, basketball and golf. His busy involvement lasted well into his adult life and touched the lives of many who knew him to be so gifted. He was also an avid and accomplished hunter (a "dead-eye") and fly-fisherman (extraordinaire).
Our family would like to thank lots of people who have befriended and crossed paths with him throughout his life. Dad had a full-extrovert personality during his life and loved people he needed them and as a result had many, many friends. Dad would love to thank them all personally his work friends, sports friends, hunting/fishing friends, his horse buddies (especially Lin and Rod Orten), and of course his family.
Ace Bingham is survived by his faithful wife, friend and soul-mate Ruth Mae Wedig, his son Barry, daughter Tamara (Robert) Morgan, and son Michael, along with 14 grand children, 21 great grand children, also brothers Lowell and Richard (Jean). Dad was preceded in death by a son (Troy), his parents (Ashel and Grace), three sisters (Elva Woodruff, Beatrice Dennis and Erma Pederson) and six brothers (Weldon, Howard, Owen, Clyde, Raymond and William).
Saying goodbye is one of the most difficult things in life. However, when someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a cherished treasure. It's precisely our capacity for "holding on" with our minds and hearts that makes human beings different... ... there doesn't seem to be a space limitation there. And when everything else is gone, we still have them with us. Ace Bingham, you will always be with us and we will love you for forever. For sure, his genes and legacy will continue on!
Graveside services will be Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. at the Bluffdale City Cemetery, Bluffdale, UT, 14175 S Redwood Road. A visitation will be held at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 S Redwood Road in Taylorsville, UT from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
