Heber Nels Garff, Louis Bromley Garff and Sylvia Christine Garff Ball

Heber Nels Garff, born in 1876, died at age 73 in Salt Lake City, after a career in education throughout the Salt Lake area school systems. His obituary states that his teaching career began in 1899, and that even in this era of the harsh disciplinarian, those practices were not part of his philosophy. That his associates regarded him highly is evident in the number and quality that spoke for him, which number included the president of Brigham Young University, Howard S. McDonald. Heber’s interest in the youth he served, his understanding of the modern educational methods and needs were recalled years after by students and co-workers.

Some of the schools he taught in or administered were Ophir School, Holladay School and Roosevelt School, Burton School, Onequa, Jefferson and Washington schools.

Heber married Louise Murphy of Salt Lake in 1900. At the time of his death he was survived by his widow, sons Herschel V and R. DeVal Garff, daughters Viola Garff, Thula G. Olsen and Mary G. Mallory.

Heber and Louise are buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens in Holladay, Utah.

Louis Bromley Garff, 1894 – 1959, migrated to the Pacific Northwest after marrying Zentha Myers, a Park City native, in 1917 in Salt Lake City. Two children were born in Salt Lake City prior to Louis settling in the Tacoma, Washington area.

In Washington Louis was engaged in the Electrical trades, working for the Tacoma City Light department and later having his own electrical business.

Louis and Zentha had two daughters, Nedra Luella (Bell) and Norma Lorain (Bresch). Their deaths occurred in 1959 and 1980, respectively and they have their rest in the Eternal Hills Memorial Gardens at Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Sylvia Christine Garff, 1879 – 1960, was born in Logan, Utah. In 1906 she married James H Ball, an attorney in Salt Lake City. His biographical sketch in the History of the Bench and Bar of Utah indicates the busy life that Sylvia and her family had. After associations that took them to California, they settled in Salt Lake City where James developed a partnership with Hyrum L Mulliner (Ball and Mulliner) which continued for some years. Sylvia was a patron and benefactor of local symphonies and the Westminster College music programs.

Two children were born to this couple, Dorothy Ball Campbell (1908 – 1998) and James Robert Ball (1919 – 1944).

James Henry Ball passed away in 1947, Sylvia Garff Ball passed away in 1960, and was laid to rest in the Shrine of Memories at Larkin Sunset Lawn, Salt Lake City.