Kay E Bills

Our Dad, Grandpa, Great Grandpa, Brother, Uncle, Cousin and Friend, Kay E Bills, passed away on March 22, 2026, just short of his 95th birthday. Dad was born and raised in Mapleton. He now leaves behind his title of being the oldest born and raised resident.

Dad was born April 18, 1931, to Douglas and Lenore Johnson Bills. He had 6 siblings growing up: Dick, Nadine, Patricia, Ted, Mac and Dianne.

Dad married his high school sweetheart, Jean Stewart, on May 20, 1952. Dad and Mom are the parents of 5 children (Gordon, Brenda, Russell, Kent and Linda). Even better, they have 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren.

Dad attended Mapleton Elementary, Springville Junior High, Springville High and Central Utah Vocational School (now known as UVU). Dad graduated from Springville High in 1949. He was a proud and active member of the Class of ’49 (Red Devil through and through). He enjoyed looking at his yearbooks as well as reading the write-ups from each of the class reunions.

Dad started working for local farmers at age 8 and continued until he was 18. He served in the Army from 1949 to 1953 on Okinawa during the Korean War as part of the Heavy Mortar Company.

In his spare time, Dad repaired televisions, radios and record players, under the name of Kay’s Radio & TV. While attending vocational school in 1955, Dad joined the amateur radio (HAM) and MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System). His dedication to HAM included checking in each day at 12:30 pm. He was required to check in a minimum of 20 days per month to retain his fifth position in the roll call. He helped with communication (near Birdseye) during the flood at Thistle in 1983.

Dad worked at Geneva Steel for 43 years in the Instrument Repair Shop where he became good friends with his co-workers.

Dad was an active volunteer in the American Legion, Mapleton Volunteer Fire Department (25 years), Bishops’ Storehouse (10 years), Utah Valley Hospital (13 years) Mapleton Senior Gym and a church greeter.

After Dad’s retirement, Mom taught Dad how to make the loomed hats. To date, Dad has made almost 6,000 unique looking hats. These hats have been given to people around the world as well as many friends and family. He made hats for his granddaughter’s elementary classmates during several of her elementary years.

Dad’s interests included reading about the history of Mapleton and Springville. Dad loved collecting everything (replica model cars/trucks, ammunition shells, records, eight track and cassette tapes along with their players). Dad participated in the scouting program taking scouts to Yellowstone. He enjoyed hunting and fishing (especially trout fishing up Maple Canyon). He made several trips to Monument Peak (both hiking and on his tote gote). Dad has raised pigeons (tumbling and homing), chickens and rabbits. If Dad was cooking dinner, we would be leery (what animal from the backyard was for dinner???). If the power was out, Dad would start his generator and run an extension cord into the house and plug in the waffle iron. He loved to till the garden. Dad is full of funny sayings and funny songs he loved to share with those around him. His grandkids laughed when he would spell their names in Morse Code using the “dits” and “dahs”; it was always entertaining.

Dad is survived by his children: Gordon (Kathy), Brenda, Kent and Linda (Kirk) Phillips; grandchildren: Nikki, Jaymee, Brad, Jodi, Jason, Brittany and Kristoffer; great grandchildren, Alexis, Kaylee, Russell, Wiley, Maycee, Kaitlyn, Madison, Aly, Camden, Niklas, Cyrus and Elsie; great great grandchildren: Wade and Kaycee. Dad is also survived by his brother Mac Bills, brother-in-law Ron Wittusen, brother-in-law Howard (Cheryl) Stewart, sister-in-law Chris (Randy) Chapple.

Dad was preceded in death by his wife Jean, parents, son Russell Bills, granddaughter MacKenzie Phillips, siblings Dick, Nadine, Patricia, Ted and Dianne.

Special thanks to the staff at Central Utah Veterans Home in Payson for their endless love and support.

Dad believed he would live forever . . . He would say, “So far, so good!”

Viewings are scheduled for Friday, March 27, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 28, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at Wheeler Mortuary in Mapleton (82 West 400 North) followed by a graveside service at the Springville Evergreen Cemetery (1997 South 400 East) at 11:00 a.m. with military rites by the American Legion.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.