President Henry Keonaona Chai II
Deseret
News (Salt Lake City), Aug 4, 2004
1952 ~ 2004
With an
unshakable faith in his Savior, Henry "Keo" Chai battled cancer without
complaint for 10 months before dying peacefully Sunday, August 1, in his South
Jordan home, surrounded by his family.
The eldest of seven children, Keo was
born September 22, 1952 in Provo, Utah to Mary Ann Price and Henry Keonaona
Chai. He attended schools in Hawaii, Arizona, and Utah, and after earning a
bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, graduated cum laude in 1979
from the J. Reuben Clark Law School. He was a founding partner in the Salt Lake
City law firm of Blackburn and Stoll, where he practiced law until the time of
his death.
Keo dedicated his adult life to serving in The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. From 1972-1974 he served as a missionary in the
Philippines Mission. He was ordained bishop of the West Jordan 49th Ward in
1983, and one year later became the first stake president of the West Jordan
Utah North Stake, later renamed the West Jordan, Westbrook Stake. After serving
diligently for nine years as stake president, Keo was asked to return to the
Philippines as the president of the Philippines, Manila Mission. Without
hesitation, he set aside his law practice for three years and accepted the call.
Due to problems with the Manila education system for his children, Keo was
reassigned after one year to the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City mission, where he
completed his assignment in 1998.
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