Paul C. Summers

Paul Summers has been a resident of Bountiful for over 60 years.  Born in Rexburg, Idaho on March 20, 1942, he is the sixth of seven children.  A month after his 3rd birthday, his mother passed away from complications following surgery at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.  Growing up without a mother was certainly complicated and undesirable.  Paul’s father was the bishop of his LDS ward at the time of her death and remained in his position for another 3 years.  Six years later, he remarried a widow who brought three more kids into the Summers family home.

Paul attended Madison High School in Rexburg and graduated in 1960.  Immediately following graduation, he went into the Army National Guard training at Ft. Leonard, Missouri for 6 months. Following his training he was accepted into a 3-month radio repair class at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Paul met and married his sweetheart Helen Pehrson in September 1964.  Their four children are Jill, Jim, JoDee and Anna, all happily married and have blessed Paul and Helen with 18 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Sadly, on December 23, 2022, Helen passed away as the result of a fall.  She is greatly missed.

Paul attended the University of Utah, graduating in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.  He worked for the Utah Department of Highways and the Utah Division of Water Resources for 25 years and was eligible for the early retirement option offered by the Utah legislature in 1987.  He retired from State employment at age 45 and began a second career in consulting engineering with the firm of JM Montgomery where he worked for the next 20 years.

In 2005 Paul retired from the engineering firm on a Friday and on the following Monday, he and Helen went to the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) to begin a proselyting mission in the Alaska Anchorage Mission.  They spent 18 months in three areas of Alaska, including Dillingham (a bush village in southwest Alaska), Fairbanks and Haines.  All very different surroundings but Elder and Sister Summers loved them all. Following their mission, they returned to Bountiful and in April of 2009 Paul was called as Bishop of the Woodland Hills Ward, where he served for 51/2 years and loved the calling.

Paul also loved his adopted city of Bountiful where he and Helen moved following their marriage in 1964.  Paul always wanted to be of service to his community.  Following the example of his father Ben Summers who served as Madison County Assessor for 16 years, Paul served on the Bountiful City Board of Adjustments for 4 years, the City Planning Commission for 8 years and the Power Commission for 16 years. He concluded his service on the Power Commission in February of this year.  In addition, Paul served as the Chairman of the Local Events committee for the 2015 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah bicycle event where he was privileged to work alongside several talented Bountiful and Davis County people.  In addition to his City of Bountiful service, Paul is currently a member of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District Board of Trustees representing Davis County. He is in his 11th year of service on this Board and will conclude his term in January of 2026.

Paul has been a member of the Salt Lake and Bountiful Rotary Clubs for 20 years. He has had several responsibilities in the Bountiful club including as President, Chairman of the Foundation Board and Chairman of the Membership Committee.  Paul has also served on several committees in the Utah Rotary District 5420, of which the Bountiful Club is a part. His current District-level assignment is as Chair of the Native American Initiative (NAI), where he leads a committee of 10 Rotarians from clubs throughout the state. They have provided services to two different tribes in Utah, including the Navajos in southeastern Utah and the Goshutes in the western part of the state.  This service has ranged from converting a vacant building into the Halchita Community Center, now primarily used for an after-school program for kids in this tribal community.  The NAI has also delivered food and other supplies, provided grow boxes for vegetable gardens, and splitting logs for firewood.  Paul is in his 5th year of this service and has plans for several more. He has found great pleasure in serving the underserved Native American people and have found lifelong friendships with many of them. There is so much more to do.