Timothy Van Harper, 68, of Boise, Idaho died in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 21, 2023 of B-cell Lymphoma. He is survived by his mother, Evelyn M. Harper (nèe Van Hise); his brothers, Steve, Brian, and Brent; his wife, Beth Harper (nèe Royall); his seven children, T. Scott Harper (Heather), Vanessa Morgan (Jonathan), Annalyn McIntyre (Scott), Erica Luskin (Timothy), Dustin Harper (Camilla), Alex Harper (Sophia), and Elisabeth Young (Matthew); and his 22 grandchildren.
Tim was born in Medford, Oregon to Loyal and Evelyn Harper on October 29, 1955. Growing up, he enjoyed riding motorcycles with his brothers and waterskiing with his family. He played football, ran track, and graduated from Grants Pass High School.
At age 19, Tim accepted a call to serve a volunteer mission in Helsinki, Finland for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the years following that experience, he often joked that he would only serve another mission if he could go somewhere warm.
Later, while studying electrical engineering at Brigham Young University he met Beth Royall, a ballerina. He thought she had nice legs, and she thought he was a good kisser. They were married in the Oakland California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on August 22, 1978. Adoring and caring for his beautiful, beloved Beth became Tim’s primary focus from that point on.
After graduating from BYU, Tim and Beth moved their young family to Corvallis, Oregon where Tim began a career with Hewlett-Packard. That career eventually took them to Boise, Idaho, where they lived together in love for the past 35 years. Tim stayed at Hewlett-Packard for 25 years and is credited on 5 US patents for his contributions to novel technologies.
Tim was a loving and involved father who encouraged and enabled his 7 kids’ academic success and supported them in their many extracurricular activities. In an effort to build character in his children, Tim faithfully fulfilled his parental duty to embarrass his kids in public by regularly wearing his custom-made collection of Bermuda shorts in various bright colors and obnoxious prints. He spent countless hours of his life close to his children, helping them identify and develop their individual talents and interests. Tim was proud of his kids and generous in his frequent expressions of confidence in them and their abilities.
Tim was an involved member of his church and community. Among other volunteer roles, he served as a merit badge counselor for Boy Scouts, signing off on 506 merit badges. He was a skilled handyman and always keen to fix problems he noticed. This made him a hero to the many family members, friends, and neighbors who called on him to help with their home and auto repairs. Fixing things for people was one of the primary ways Tim expressed his love for others.
After retiring from Hewlett-Packard in 2004, Tim achieved success in multiple entrepreneurial ventures. In 2014, Tim and Beth volunteered to serve another mission for their church in the (much warmer) island nation of Samoa. They loved the weather, the beautiful beaches, and the Samoan people.
His lifelong love of watersports meant that Tim often spent his free time on boats. Over the years he owned several sailboats and ski boats and captained them with efficiency and effective seamanship. However, Tim’s real passion was teaching others to waterski and wakeboard. He invited almost everyone he met out on his boat, and he spent countless summer days at Lake Lowell and Lake Cascade, and even some icy winter days on the water at Lucky Peak. In 2000, Tim bought a ski boat he named Our Tractor and started tracking how many people learned for the first time to waterski or wakeboard behind this boat. He took great pride in his ability to coach people to get up on the water, especially if they had tried and failed behind other boats previously. When he was hospitalized in August 2023, the final count of first-timers taught by Tim behind Our Tractor was 924. He considered this one of the great accomplishments of his life. He was a skilled skier himself, and his family will always remember his joyful shouts of “Woohoohoohoo!” as he shot across the wake on glassy water. The apex of Tim’s boating experiences was the S/V Windows, a new 50-foot catamaran he purchased and named in 2019. Tim and Beth created incredible memories for themselves and others on their many sailing adventures, navigating the waters throughout French Polynesia, the Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands.
Tim was a loyal and caring son, brother, husband, and father throughout his life. However, in recent years he was also busy in his role as “Grampy” to his 22 grandchildren. Importantly, he also served a similar role to the children of both neighbors and faraway friends, who all have their own affectionate titles for him. His beloved grandchildren were his primary motivation to fight his cancer as vigorously as he did, and he believed their pure faith and diligent prayers sustained him in his final months.
The tragedy of Tim’s death is tempered only by his unwavering testimony of God’s plan. Even to his final hours, Tim testified of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the blessings of paying tithing, and the importance of always choosing the right. His family finds peace in their shared belief that they will be together eternally, and they look forward to a joyous reunion hereafter.
A funeral service will be held at the meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 6032 N. Five Mile Road in Boise, Idaho on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 10am. Visitation with the family will be held at the same location during the hour before the service begins. Interment will be at Dry Creek Cemetery immediately following the service. The funeral service will be live streamed at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84794360346?pwd=UlhBK3o4dWdVSjRrRnFOVEpFL3BFdz09
In lieu of flowers, and to truly honor Tim’s legacy in a way he would appreciate, please save your money. While he was generous to those in need, Tim was famously frugal, and he would want you to save your money, spend it making a fun memory with your family, or invest it in something with the potential to appreciate.
Please share your memories of Tim via this online form: https://forms.office.com/r/NS0eRXAfcH
And please email any photos you’d like to share to this address: TimHarperMemories@gmail.com