Brief Biography

Terry Penrod Ingram of Centerville, Utah passed beyond this mortal existence in the early morning hours of Saturday September 21, 2013 aged 66 years.  He succumbed to natural causes in his home.  Terry was the only heir of Douglas Frodsham and Wanda Penrod Ingram born in Ogden, Utah on June 4, 1947.  Terry married his eternal companion, Judy Hill Ingram, June 10, 1976.  Terry resided in Clearfield, Utah until 1991 when he relocated his family to Centerville, Utah. Terry served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Western Canadian mission and forever cherished the time he spent with the people of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.


Terry enjoyed working in a number of eclectic positions, prominently among them were his work as Engineer and Disc Jockey at many Utah radio stations including KLO in Ogden, Utah. While at KLO Terry became the first person to make a live underwater radio broadcast in a promotion called “The Damn Thing” at Pineview Reservoir.  In 1984 Terry became Communications Chief of Ogden City Fire Dept. As part of his duties there he implemented the state’s first E-911 system, giving emergency responders vital location information automatically for the first time.


Terry’s experience at Ogden City made him uniquely qualified to create and lead the new Valley Emergency Communications Center which was created to handle 911 calls and dispatch service for almost all of Salt Lake County residents.  It is difficult to calculate the number of lives saved, and injuries reduced due to the efficiency of the center that he created.  Terry kept VECC at the forefront of the public safety industry continually developing new methods to aid those in crisis.  VECC became a model on which agencies across North America built their own public safety networks.


Terry was an avid supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.  In addition to each of his sons achieving the rank of Eagle Scout,  Terry served as Unit Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner in the Centerville Utah North Stake for many years, guiding young men toward the goal of Eagle Scout and interviewing them in Eagle Scout boards of review.  Terry became well known for conducting an interview which truly tested aspiring Eagle Scouts in their knowledge of scouting as well as american history and chivalry.  Later Terry served as a District Commissioner for the Boy Scouts, became a Woodbadge member and received Scouting’s highest honor, the Silver Beaver award.


Terry had many and varied hobbies, most of which doubled as careers.  Among them were amateur radio, computers, Hi-Fi, cinema and live theater.  Terry became a Dive Master after his experience on “The Damn Thing” and worked as a Search and Rescue diver. [Edited]  He was a projectionist at the Riverdale Drive-In and the now razed Wilshire theater in South Ogden.  He was stage master of the Browning Center for Performing Arts at Weber State College and Ballet West and was offered a position touring with the Rolling Stones as a follow spot operator (a position which he declined to ensure his presence for the birth of his second child.)  


Terry ran his own television repair business and later a computer consulting company.  Terry’s love of water sports was borne out in his passion for diving and in decades of motor boating with family.  Boating became a favored family past time where Terry’s sons learned to ski, tube and wakeboard.  Terry loved to travel with his family.  He traveled around the United States, Canada and Mexico with his parents and their siblings.  Terry became a Disneyland aficionado after making yearly (and sometimes more frequent) pilgrimages to Anaheim.


Terry received many honors. One of his proudest accomplishments was graduating with a BA from Weber State College.  Terry was selected Outstanding Citizen of 1987 by The Elks organization and received the Distinguished Achievement Award from Governor Bangerter.  

Terry is survived by his wife, Judy Hill Ingram and sons Douglas Terry , Robert Nelson, Kenneth Hill and Bradley Hill.  With their spouses Hannah Youngberg, Amanda Gentry, Jeneil Murray and Jennifer Cluff they blessed Terry with nine grandchildren: Emma, Tanner, Danielle, Hunter, Savannah, Quorra, Corbin, Kohen and a grandchild expected in January*.

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Edit 1: Originally this passage referred to Terry's amateur radio hobby and work he performed on radio/telephony interoperability. This appears to be a mistake of memory by me, the author. While Terry enjoyed and utilized amateur radio regularly, no information has surfaced to support the memory of phone patch development by Terry personally.

* In January 2014 Robert and Amanda Ingram were blessed with a son, Ryker Terry.

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