Carilyn Pate Bunpai

Not ever seeking Headlines or a Special Reason to be in the Press, our dearest Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Daughter, and Friend, Carilyn—who has been a feature- photo personality of the Local/Metro Section and the Cover Page of the Standard Examiner, has now claimed her own byline on the in-Memoriam Page. After a brief illness, Carilyn passed away unexpectedly, yet peacefully at home on Tuesday, November 26th, 2024, at the age of 55.

She was greeted in Heaven by her Parents, her oldest Brother, Grandparents, numerous Aunts and Uncles, some Cousins, a few Friends from her Childhood, and the Honorary Uncle to her children ‘Uncle Brett’.

Carilyn delighted in the company of her two children, Allison and Shai, and has benefited from and was reinvigorated by her grandson, Anthony Frank, during her recurrent, high adventure ‘babysitting’ enterprises. She structured her work schedule and ‘home time’ to ensure there was balance between them all—mostly to guarantee that a proper Movie Night, a home-cooked Stir-fry Steak with Sticky-rice Dinner, an occasional Thai dining-out Evening, or other special Mother/Son Time was held regularly; time to secure intervals of Mother/Daughter, Son-in-Law, and Grandson activities; to spend quality time with her Siblings, her Step-Father, her Friends, to find and build friendships at work—Smith’s: her ‘Work-Family’, and to guarantee her gift of preeminently greeting Customers with uncanny Salutations of Hope as if she was acknowledging life-long Friends. Particularly, she found a special affinity and made time for her beloved pets—a progressive, sequential run of Rottweilers (‘Disaster-Lee’, ‘Kisses’, & ‘Frankie’), and a progressive, sequential run of Feliné-Domesticus, including her current ginger-cat, “Harvey”.

Born on August 15th, 1969, to Alvin Strauser and Carolyn Harding Pate, Carilyn was one of the first babies born at the ‘New’ McKay-Dee Hospital center in Ogden, Weber, Utah. Her mother stated, “I think they were all wearing hardhats in the delivery room since I don’t believe the hospital was quite finished when Dr. [Byron] Naisbitt moved us over there.” Carilyn is the fourth child and second daughter in the family. She was educated in Ogden and attended Dee Elementary School, Central Middle School, and Ogden High School. For a brief period, she attended high school in Denver, Colorado, while living with her father, Al, during her Junior year.

In life, Carilyn loved and enjoyed her family—boasting a wonderful stepfather, Frank Hammond; inheriting two stepbrothers and a stepsister as part of the 1980’s mix and maintained tremendously close ties to her brothers and sister, she appreciated being a much beloved friend to her many cousins, and enjoyed a distinguished circle of community friends.

From spending quality time at the public parks or finding solemn repose at the Ogden City Cemetery as she reflected on the quality lives of her parents and oldest brother at the family plots to observing the quite open aspects Pineview Reservoir and its coves and beaches, Carilyn found all of this was of particular significance from early childhood well into her now, double-Nickle age. The greatness of the out-of-doors was relished by her and the pleasant nature of the ‘sufficiently-secure’-indoors was also found to be of meditative benefit.

She is survived by a daughter, Allison Cervantes (Robert); a son, Shai Bunpai; a grandson, Anthony Frank Cervantes; her sister, Penny Gillett; her brothers, Daniel H. Pate, Jason H. Pate (Jodi), and Travis H. Pate; her stepbrothers, Frank J. Hammond II (Denise), David Hammond (Beverly); her stepsister, Paige Chaskelis (Aaron); her stepfather, Frank J. Hammond; and many nieces and nephews (several of these being ‘great’).

On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., a “limited-graveside-service” will be hosted in the warmth of Aaron’s Mortuary 496 East 24th Street, Ogden, Utah. [former Larkin Mortuary, NW corner of 24th St. & Adams Ave.] with a Friends & Family tribute concluding at 11:00 a.m.

A procession from the Mortuary to the Ogden City Cemetery will begin at 11:15. The cemetery entrance is on 20th St. and Madison Ave. A conventional Dedication of the grave will be at 11:30 a.m. 

Attendance is welcome at either or both gatherings; the gravesite is on Memorial Circle, hillside, in the Northeast corner of the cemetery (near the Cemetery Office).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a contribution be made to Smith’s campaign: “Zero Hunger / Zero Waste” https://thekrogercozerohungerzerowastefoundation.com/ and the Catholic Community Service: Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank https://ccsutah.org/programs/joyce-hansen-hall-food-bank , or a charity of your choice.

The family wishes to thank all individuals that have contributed to Carilyn’s health and wellbeing and the kindness shared openly during this time of loss.