Milo Ray Durfee

Milo Ray Durfee, 73, said “I’m done,” and passed away peacefully, at his home, in Payson on Friday, January 21, 2022.

Milo was born in 1948 in Tooele, Utah, to Cy and Enid Durfee. He graduated from Grantsville High School and was drafted into the United States Army serving in Vietnam as a radio repairman. When he returned, he met his wife-to-be, Renee. Milo enrolled in ROTC and graduated with his B.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from the University of Utah. He received a commission in the United States Army Signal Corps and retired as a Major after serving a total of 20 years. Milo earned his M.S. in Human Resource Management from Troy State University and a M.Ed. in Speech Pathology from Utah State University. For almost 20 years, he worked as a Speech Language Pathologist in schools, hospitals and care centers in Utah and Arizona. Milo and Renee moved to Payson in 2000.

As a dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he held many teaching and leadership positions. Milo and Renee served a Military Relations Mission at Ft. Hood, Texas. He will be remembered as an avid outdoorsman, a hunter education teacher, an archery, rifle, shotgun and muzzleloader instructor, a volunteer Pope and Young measurer, a Boy Scout Silver Beaver recipient, a semi-pro baseball player, a high school baseball coach, a baseball umpire, and basketball referee, an attentive husband, a wonderful dad, a loving grandfather, a favorite uncle, and a great friend.

Milo is survived by: his wife, Renee; five children: David (Natalie), of Central; Merilee, of Mesa; Amey (Robert) Zeigler, of Buda, Texas; Dallin (Mikaela), of Payson; Marc (Rebecca), of Globe; five siblings: Marge, and Sherry Stephens (Sheldon), of Cedar City, Utah; Terry and Tammy Anderson (John), of Loma, Colorado; and Esther Zamora (Hector), of Enoch, Utah; seventeen and a half grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services for Milo will be conducted Friday evening, January 28, 2022, at 6:00 p.m., at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 913 South Ponderosa Street in Payson.

Graveside services with military honors conferred by the Gila Valley Veterans Honor Guard will be conducted Saturday, January 29, 2022, at 2:00 p.m., at the Central Cemetery.