Eugene Chad Jenkins

Eugene Chad Jenkins was born March 6, 1937, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Eugene Clyde and Leah Jenkins. Chad grew up in Salt Lake City\Magna UT area and moved to Roosevelt for a period and then back to Salt Lake City.  Chad started working at the airport, getting his pilot's license at 16 years old. You can read about Dad and his many flying/life adventures in the book "Runway Dust" written by Ron Furdon (his lifelong friend).

Dad worked for Bailey Tire Co, which sent him to Las Vegas at 21 years old. He made numerous references to how he was making $1.20 an hour back home and the move to Vegas raised his salary to $3. He didn’t know what he was going to do with all his money. While working for Bailey Tire Co he would follow the road crews around to different jobs, towing a travel trailer behind and setting of houses wherever they stopped. He could rattle off all the roads and routes he ventured on while on the road. Chad worked for Firestone, Wells Stuart, owned a Feed/Grain store, and eventually settled at Las Vegas Paving from 1978-2001 when he started his retirement.

Helen and Chad met on a blind date. Chad would fly his plane over Helen’s house to let her know he was in town, and she would head to the airport to pick him up. They got married on March 5, 1966, a day before Chad’s 30th birthday and rumors are he was extremely sick his wedding day.

In 2004, they decided they had enough of the big city and moved out to Sandy Valley. His hobbies included working out of his garage, rebuilding airplanes, inventing new projects, riding his dune buggy, camping, the Model T Club, and on occasion attending the Old Time Fiddler's Festivals in UT.

Chad started dialysis at 73 years old, being told this would only suffice for 5-6 years. In November 2020, his wife Helen, of 54 years passed away and left a big vacancy in all our lives.  He beat the odds and continued dialysis for 1 month shy of 14 years. Chad made the decision that he was tired and had had enough; it was time to be at rest and be with his wife Helen.

Our best memories with our father were the deer hunting trips as kids, our 4th of July camping reunions with all the family near Ely. trips to the lakebed to fly airplanes/ultralights. Chad was a hardworking man that took care of his family and in many ways helped others. He loved to fly - that's when he was the happiest (he even flew his plane down into the Grand Canyon). Many tell the story of Dad sleeping in the wood pile during these years (nobody knows the reason why, but they all knew where to find him).

He is survived by his three children; Shane, Tona (pronounced like Donna), and Mark (otherwise known as Hoss) his grandchildren; Jessica, Ariel, Cody, Jake Abbey and Riley; and his three siblings; LaRae, Carma and Mona.