Tyler Arthur Staples

Tyler Arthur Staples was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 15, 1939.  His adoptive parents, Paul and Edith Staples, raised him and loved him dearly.  He spent his first five years on Pine Mountain in a sheepherders camp, building cities in the soil.  His dad then moved the family to Mud Lake, Idaho.  Tyler joined the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1960.  He served on three aircraft carriers, his favorite being the USS Shangri-La.  During his service in the Navy, he won the Lightweight Boxing Championship held in the Philippines.  He worked at various jobs as a young man, from picking brush in the Washington and Oregon woods that he loved, to ranch work in Idaho.  He later managed the garden shop for K-Mart, and then worked as a mechanical custodian for the LDS Church in his later years.  He was an artistic landscaper and built the largest railroad tie wall in Utah County with the help of his sons.  His work was in demand throughout Utah.  In his later years, he turned that artistic talent into building furniture for his grandchildren, especially from antique pine, and restored many pieces of beautiful antique furniture to their former beauty.  He thoroughly enjoyed getting a pile of wood that had originally been a piece of furniture and putting it back to its original grandeur.  He married the love of his life, Sheila, and adopted all five of her children (we all wondered if he was a really good guy or just plain crazy).  He and Sheila celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in October of 2023.  Since his retirement, they were always together.  During the last eight years as his body had severe physical problems, Sheila was privileged to lovingly take care of him.  He is the father to Paul Staples, Kelly Staples, Jennifer Prowse, Andrew T. Staples (Seija), Andrew P. Staples (deceased), Phillip Staples (Velia), Dennis Staples, Sylvia Adams (Lynn), and Cynthia Johnson (Brent).  He has a sister, Sharon Argetsinger (Brian, deceased).  He was so proud of his children and their accomplishments, and if you got to talk to him, you would hear about them, their spouses, and the accomplishments of his many grandchildren (and now several dozen great-grandchildren).  He took great comfort in the knowledge that they loved him and he loved them all dearly.  One of his favorite comments was, “I am so lucky to have grandchildren who I know love me.  No one can take that away.”  He truly taught his children and grandchildren how to work hard, not slack off, and do the job right.  He loved America passionately and “Yankee ingenuity.”

Funeral services will be held Monday, May 20, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary located at 495 S State St, Orem, Utah, with a viewing from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM. 

Burial will be in the Fairview Pioneer Cemetery,Utah at 2:00 PM with military honors.  In lieu of flowers, we ask that you contribute to a dog in need in memory of our beloved “Sadie”.