In Memoriam of V. Garth Norman, Book of Mormon and Mesoamerican Scholar and Wonderful Friend

Garth Norman, Cheryl Norman, Nathan Davies, and myself at Parowan Gap, June 20, 2020

This last week and a half I have struggled with my feelings as I sat in work and received a text message that broke my heart. My dear friend who claimed me as an “adopted grandson,” V. Garth Norman, passed away, returning to his heavenly home on December 1, 2021. Quite fittingly, he was buried holding a jade circle and square as Mayan royalty had been.

Garth Norman is especially known for his work on the Izapa Temple Complex in Mexico and the Parowan Gap in Utah and for his time spent as well as his service in the Ancient America Foundation. He was a wonderful scholar of the Book of Mormon and I enjoyed discussing the scriptures with him. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Parowan Gap with him on two occasions to watch the solar calendar that he showed was kept there anciently. I took him and his wife Cheryl to see the Chalk Creek Canyon Hieroglyphics near Fillmore, UT where ancient Mayans who had travelled northward left carvings on the side of a mountain. I spent many days visiting with them and hours discussing The Book of Mormon with Garth, and it is hard to imagine how I will not be able to have those conversations for a while now.

Garth showed how solar and lunars calendar were kept at Izapa and Parowan, serving as temples connecting the ancient inhabitants of the land to the heavens, as so many temples in the ancient world have (Hugh Nibley and John Lundquist have each written extensively on this matter). He even was able to talk to the architects for the Mount Timpanogos Temple and provide his astronomical insights into the construction and layout of a modern temple to be an observatory of the heavens.

After attending his funeral today, I struggle with finding the right words to say. Garth was a friend. He was a scholar. He was a steadfast believer and defender of the faith. He was my adopted grandpa. I can’t imagine my life right now if I had never met him, and I am eternally grateful that I was able to spend even a short time with the wonderful man he is.

My prayers continue to go out to his wonderful family, many of whom I met today. I, like they, look forward to the beautiful millennial day when we will be reunited with those whom we love, rejoicing in the bounteous love of Christ.