OBITUARY – Ervin Mantle
MISSION – John Ervin Mantle, 76, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at his Mission home after a battle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Mr. Mantle was born on Nov. 5, 1942, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Matilda Sirena Knudson Mantle and John William Mantle. After high school, he joined the United States Army Reserve. He then served in the Texas Mission, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1962 to 1964.
He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and then his master’s degree in speech pathology and audiology in 1969 and to become a teacher of the deaf (oral method) in the Salt Lake Extension Division of the Utah State School for the Deaf for 10 years.
On Aug. 19, 1966, he married April Moss, and they moved to the Rio Grande Valley on Jan. 1, 1982, where he was employed as a special education consultant with Region One Education Service Center. He later became a special education supervisor for Weslaco Independent School District, then a special education teacher with Valley View I.S.D., and then as a special education teacher with La Joya I.S.D. until his retirement.
Mr. Mantle was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he served in numerous capacities during his lifetime: bishop, bishop’s counselor, McAllen Stake president’s counselor, scoutmaster (numerous times) and troop committee chairman. He and his wife served together in the Texas McAllen Mission office of The Church.
Survivors include his wife; children, Christopher Mantle of St. Peters, Mo., Daniel Mantle of Frisco, Timothy Mantle of McAllen, Andrew Mantle of McAllen and Rebecca Mantle of McAllen; sibling, George Mantle of Salt Lake City; and 14 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Janet Ericson.
Viewing will be held on Friday, March 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel at 3107 N. Bryan Rd. in Mission. Another viewing will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 2, at the chapel, prior to the 11 a.m. funeral service. Burial follows at Valley Memorial Gardens in Mission.