1951 ~ 2019
Bryan Jay Pavlish, age 67, passed away Saturday, January 5th at his home in Memory Care after a 7 year battle with dementia.
He was born March 10, 1951 in Bismarck, North Dakota to John and Joyce Pavlish. He was number two of five boys, all of them over six feet tall. When he was 14 years old his family moved to Salt Lake City where he excelled in sports. He was a football and basketball star at Olympus High School and was later recruited to play basketball for Utah State. He chose basketball over football because "it doesn't rain in the gym." He was an incredible athlete and could pick up any new sport or activity and perform better than someone who had been training.
He married his high school sweetheart, Jeri Neese, in 1971 and together they had a daughter, Shelly, whom he nicknamed Stinker Pie. Fortunately that nickname didn't last long and Bell became the new moniker. He spent his entire life cherishing and doting on her until he could no longer speak. His last words were a whispered "I love you, too."
After graduating from Utah State he began a long career as a teacher, starting at Olympus High School and then moving over to Cottonwood High School, where he taught countless students for nearly 30 years until he retired in 2009. For most of his career he taught Business classes but he eventually found a new niche in Sports Medicine.
While teaching at Cottonwood he coached several different sports at one time or another. Basketball and track were shorter stints, but he coached swimming and football for many years. He was the school's athletic trainer and performed the job so well, students started coming to him with all their ailments and he felt like the school nurse.
Oh, the students. He LOVED teaching and it was evident his students loved him. He couldn't go anywhere without running into a former student thanking him for helping them one way or another and he kept in contact with some of his students long after they'd graduated. He had a wonderfully quirky sense of humor and was known to tell his students corny jokes to keep them engaged. He took a lot of pride in what he did at Cottonwood, spending 13 hour days at the school between teaching and coaching. He won multiple awards for being an outstanding educator and was an integral part of the initiation of the Academy of Finance, a program where students could earn college credit while taking Business courses in high school.
His pride and joy were his two grandchildren, Kira Bean and Ry Ry. They had him wrapped around their fingers and he would do anything for them. He even traded in his convertible for another car because they didn't like the wind. He attended all their soccer, basketball, baseball games and dance recitals that he was able. He would have been so proud to see Kira's swimming progress at Olympus High School. When shown a video of her in his last months he was still able to point out ways to improve her stroke. We wish more than anything he would not have left us so soon.
He is preceded in death by his parents, John and Joyce Pavlish and his "Hall of Fame" cat Lysander. He is survived by his daughter Shelly Logue (Hollis), grandchildren Kira and Ryan Logue, and brothers Darrel, Robin, Jon and Jim as well as the many members of the Neese family, who always treated him as one of their own.
A celebration of his life will be held on his birthday, Sunday, March 10th at Cottonwood Country Club from 1-4pm.
The family would like to thank the many caregivers at The Ridge that helped Bryan over the years. We are grateful for the hard work that they put in to care for him.