Stories: Eugene P. Till shares a glimpse of his life
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| Elder Riser, thank you for sharing your story with Wayne Summers. May I impose a little of my history upon you, as our paths have taken us in some of the same directions. In 1955 my father was a Col. in the army assigned to Tokarozawa, Japan, and we lived at Johnston AFB and as a 18 year old boy who had just joined the church I attended Narimasu High School in Tokyo. For a brief period upon our arrival in Japan (prior to moving to Tokarozawa), my family lived in Yokohama where I attend my first church services after baptism. Col. Johnson was branch president and his wife Lucille (now a very well know writer and speaker in the church) became my Mormon mom and dad. They are now in their 90s.
While attending the Johnston AFB Branch I fell in love with the church and have embraced it ever since. After graduation from Narimasu HS in Tokyo, I attended BYU and was called as a misionary to serve in Tokyo (a 3 year mission) and was shortly sent to Korea in 1958. In 1961 I married in my home state of Florida and was drafted into the Army and assigned to Okinawa where I served for two years with the 14th Psychological Warfare Bn. After my time in the Army I stayed on in Okinawa as a Civilian Government Employee. My church calling was Okinawa District President for almost 4 years. In 1966 I was assigned to Bangkok, Thailand where my church calling was Thailand District President and LDS Servicemens Coordinator for Thailand and Vietnam. President Keith Garner of the Southern Far East Mission (Hong Kong) was my supervisor and he set me apart to these two positions. I served in these two positions until I was assigned to Washington DC in 1970. During my time in Thailand I was able to purchase the property where the first chapel was built. President Garner told me that If I would supervise the missionaries, he would send 6 Elders to begin the missionary work in Thailand. My counselors in the Thailand District Presidency were Paul Morris (later called to be the first mission president in Thailand) and Harvey D. Brown, who also became a mission president in Thailand. In addition, I was requested by Elder Marion D. Hanks to assist with the opening of missionary work in Singapore, which I did. During my 4 years in Thailand I supervised the US Military Groups in Korat, Ubon, Nakon Panam, Udorn, Tahkli, Saddaheap and the Branch in Bangkok. In 1974-77 I served as mission president in Korea. As a note of interest, I called as a group leader in Tahkli AFB, Captain Jay Hess. Jay was a F-105 pilot who was shot down over N. Vietnam and spent over 5 years as a POW there. Jay now lives in Farmington, Utah and we are close friends.
Thank you for your service in Thailand.
Sincerely your brother,
Eugene Powell Till
Last week my grandson returned from serving in the Japan, Sindai Mission... We now have 3 generations who have served in Japan. What an honor for our family !!!
1958... Eugene P. Till Sr. served in Japan, later assigned to Korea
1974-77 Eugene P. Till Sr served as mission president in Korea.
1980... Eugene P. Till Jr. served in Japan, Tokyo North
2007... Cody Eugene Till served in Japan, Sindai
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Eugene Powell Till
204 East 4635 North
Provo, Utah 84604
Home: 801-822-0290
Cell:: 801 602 3612
genetill@gmail.com |
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