Lerue Winget - 2015 Modern Pioneer
Lerue Winget was born in 1921 and grew up on his family farm in Monroe, Utah. He was sealed to his high school sweetheart, Nola Lou Sampson in the Salt Lake Temple in 1942. Together they raised six children, all of whom are living today. For Lerue, family is of central importance.
Lerue is the great grandson of 1847 pioneers who helped build the Nauvoo Temple, and settle Salt Lake City, Springville, Cedar City and Monroe. He was also great grandson of Caleb Baldwin who was in the Liberty jail with the prophet Joseph Smith in 1839.
He served five years in the United States Army during World War II serving in the Philippines and Japan. He was one of the first members of the US Forces to enter Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb.
Following the war, he attended the University of Utah where earned his Doctorate Degree in Education. From there, he went on to serve a remarkable career in public education, including as a Secondary School Math and Science teacher, Principal of Elementary, Junior High and High Schools; State Director of Secondary Education; Part time Instructor at BYU, University of Utah, and Utah State University. He was a participating author in a text used in Teacher Education in the Department of Education at the University of Utah. He served as Chairman of the Study Commission of the National Council ofChief State School Officers, participating author in the book ???Education in the States: Nationwide Development since 1900???, member of the Board of Director of the Utah High School Activities Association, member of the Far West Laboratoryfor Educational Research and Development, honorary member of the Utah Congress of Parents and Teachers, member of the Utah Society of School Superintendents, and for 25 years served as the Associate Superintendent ofPublic Instruction for the State of Utah, retiring as Associate Superintendent Emeritus.
Active in his many Church callings, Lerue served as Ward Teacher Development Leader, Elder???s Quorum Presidency, First Counselor in the Bishopric, Stake Sunday School Board, Stake High Council, Bishop (twice), Counselor in the Stake Presidency (for 17 years), and several High Priest Group callings including High Priest Group Leader. He served as Ordinance Worker and Sealer in the Jordan River Temple, and as a Temple missionary with Sister Winget in the Sydney, Australia Temple. He also served for 23 years as an Ordinance Worker and Sealer in the St George Temple. His total years as a Sealer was 27 years.
Lerue was active in his community as well serving on the Board of Directors, including Chairman, of the Los Palmas Condominium Association Management Committee, served a number of years in the role of Erastus Snow in the St George Live Tour, and was an original member of the ???Grandparents Club???, organized in the early 1900s for the purpose of providing scholarships for students at Dixie College (now Dixie State University).
