Carl Frederick Huefner

Carl Frederick Huefner, 73, of Bountiful, Utah, passed away at his home on August 5, 2025, from causes incident to congestive heart failure, a condition from which he had suffered for the last several years.

He was born on March 11, 1952, to Frederick Huefner and Orma Banks Petersen in Salt Lake City, Utah. The family lived in a small home on Cortez Street on Capitol Hill. Looking back on his birth, his mother would often say that March was the snowiest month of that year—because as when she went into labor, Carl’s father couldn’t get their family car through all the snow on their steep street, so Carl’s grandfather had to venture from downtown in his Packard to drive them to the hospital.

Carl was always a precocious, intelligent, and artistic child; he even skipped a grade in elementary school. He also won the “Boss of Lagoon” art contest and received a coveted season pass to Lagoon, where he and his brother spent many wonderful days together.

He developed Hodgkin’s Disease (lymphatic cancer) at 12 years old. His condition went undiagnosed at the time, but a lump was removed from his neck at Primary Children’s Hospital. However, shortly after the removal of the lump, another one quickly grew again in its place, so Carl received a priesthood blessing from Eldridge G. Smith, who was the patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time. Afterwards, the patriarch said to Carl’s parents that he had heard of a new procedure called “radiation,” and they might want to look into it. Shortly afterward, Carl received radiation treatment for the lump, and it faded away. Years later he would discover that this healing had been quite a miracle.

Carl’s father died in 1969 (the same year Carl graduated from West High School); and Carl went to work. Before most people had even heard of computers, Carl got job at the University of Utah in their fledgling data/computer processing center–a huge, temperature-controlled room stacked with equipment. He loved the challenge of learning all that he could about what to him was the opening of a new and exciting application of technology.

Looking forward to serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Carl was called to the French Polynesia mission, which at that time included New Caledonia. While he had studied French in high school, he quickly found out that Polynesian French was far different from formal French. In addition, he also had to learn native Tahitian. His mission brought him great joy, and he came to love the people and their languages. He served from 1971 to 1973.

After returning from his mission, he worked during General Conference, translating talks from English into Tahitian. He was also able to apply these language skills later in life as an ordinance worker in the Bountiful temple, where he served for ten years.

Following his missionary service, he attended college, graduating from the University of Utah with a B.A., magna cum laude, in 1976, and then earned his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University in 1979. He was admitted to the Utah Bar in 1979, and the Nevada Bar in 1980.

In the late 70's, the lump in his neck returned, and Carl knew immediately that this was the same issue that had plagued him in his childhood. An oncologist in Salt Lake City eventually identified his condition as Hodgkin’s Disease. The doctor was able to obtain Carl’s medical records from the first treatment, as well as a preserved tissue specimen from his first surgery. The oncologist said to that the amount of radiation Carl had received as a child was insufficient to cause the cancer to go into remission. Thus, Carl’s childhood recovery had truly been a miracle. Thankfully, after an extensive surgery and intensive radiation, the lump never returned.

Carl’s legal career was one of distinguishment and honor. He served as an attorney specializing in business and tax law for over 45 years, including time serving as a clerk for Federal Judge Roger Thomas Foley in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Carl married Ann Rena St. Clair on July 14, 1982, in the Salt Lake City LDS temple. They are the parents of two children, Sara and Matthew.

Carl spent much of his spare time serving his family, neighborhood, and community. He also served as a president and member of the Bountiful Rotary Club and as president of the Western Pension and Benefits Conference. Additionally, he served his church through a variety of ward and stake callings, including bishop of the Bountiful 53rd Ward, gospel doctrine teacher, and choir director.

In the past decade, Carl cultivated a deep love of family history, and just within the last year of his life contributed over one thousand names for ordinance work in LDS temples worldwide. He became proficient in reading old German and French records, as his family tree includes both French and German ancestry which can be traced back to Charlemagne. His meticulous work also introduced him to a previously unknown branch of the Huefner family in Australia.

Carl was widely known for his acute intellect, his encyclopedic knowledge in a wide variety of subjects—both everyday and esoteric—frequently astonishing those around him. He had the unique ability to take a complex idea, distill it down to its essence, and quickly find the best solution to any problem. He was incredibly generous with his time and talents, always willing to help those in need.

His calm, measured demeanor comforted those he ministered to. He never raised his voice: that is, unless he was cheering on his beloved BYU Cougar football team (or yelling at the refs for bad calls); listening to the evening news, where every legal issue was, in his opinion, misrepresented; or berating other drivers for their egregious offences against common sense. Despite his own impeccable driving abilities, he somehow managed to run over every nail and piece of shrapnel Utah’s highways had to offer. In fact, the workers at his preferred tire shop knew him by name; only a few gifted other drivers could manage two flat tires in a single day.

Carl was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Melvin David Huefner. He is survived by his loving wife, Ann; his son, Matthew; his daughter, Sara Huefner Wallace; his son-in-law, Craig Wallace; and his beloved grandchildren, Ryan and Kaitlyn Wallace.

The family expresses their love and appreciation to all who have blessed our lives, especially during this difficult period, and appreciate the services of Russon Mortuary & Crematory for their kind and compassionate service.

Services will be held as follows:

Sunday, August 10, 2025: Viewing from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Russon Mortuary, 295 N. Main Street, Bountiful, UT 84010.

Monday, August 11, 2025: Bountiful 53rd Ward at 1350 North 650 East, Bountiful, Utah:

Viewing from 9:30–10:30 a.m.

Funeral services starting at 11:00 a.m., followed by burial at the Bountiful City Cemetery, 2224 South 200 West in Bountiful.

Services will be streamed live on the Russon Mortuary Live Facebook page and on this obituary page. The live stream will begin 10-15 minutes prior to services and will be posted below.