Michael Wayne Temples

Michael Wayne Temples passed away Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah after a brave battle with leukemia. He was 73. 

Mike was born on July 13, 1944 in McPherson, Kansas to Norma L. Berry Temples and Taylor Temples. He married Johanna Eleonore Pelzer (Heidi) and together, they raised two children, Laura Ann Temples (Lori) and Michael Taylor Temples. 

He lived in Red Wash, Utah during his youth and later worked in the oil field camps. In 1962, he graduated from Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah. He attended the University of Utah before enrolling in the Marine Corps.

Sergeant Temples served his country during the Vietnam War and was awarded both a Navy Achievement and Purple Heart medal.

A successful businessman with an engineer's mind, he opened Temples' Maschine Inc. in Salt Lake City and operated it for 34 years. His commitment to the business and the car racing industry earned him a sterling professional reputation.

He enjoyed spending time at local race tracks where he sponsored sprint and modified race cars and also had affiliations with desert racing. Mike loved hunting, fishing and driving many miles to explore terrain in eastern Utah. 

A loving husband, father, grandfather, son, and brother, he is survived by his wife and children, grandchildren Haden Allen Meagher, Nathan Leo Meagher, and Samantha Taylor Temples, as well as his mother and brother and sisters and their families David Temples (Vickie), Sally Young (Larry), Linda Johns, Jannette Clark (James), and Karen Craft. He was preceded in death by his father.

A celebration of life will be held at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106, on Saturday, April 21, 2018 from 6-8 p.m. Guests are encouraged to use the complimentary valet parking on the north side of the building. Mike will be laid to rest at a later date at the Rockpoint Cemetery in Vernal, Utah.