Saturday, August 21, 2010

Catching Up: Meet the Cammacks

Elwin Cammack, recently called to serve as Sunday School president in the Bloomington 7th Ward, and his wife Claire, a teacher in the Relief Society, were both born and reared near the heart of the church - he in Pingree, Idaho and she in Rexburg. But, they agree, their profound love for all of God’s children came after they met at Ricks College, married in Idaho Falls, and moved out into the mission field.

After earning a bachelors degree at Ricks College, a Masters degree at BYU and a doctorate in higher education at Michigan State, Elwin became an Associate Vice President at the University of Wisconsin, a position he held for more than 25 years. This immensely enjoyable assignment found him managing development contracts in Asia which gave him the opportunity to work closely with administrators at the University of Indonesia and with those in institutes of higher learning in Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.

With a bachelors degree in home economics from Utah State University, Claire was well prepared to manage their Wisconsin household, including five children - now grown and living all over the country “from sea to shining sea, border-to-border and no one in the same time zone,” notes Claire.

Both have served faithfully in the Church throughout their lifetimes. Claire taught seminary for five years, served as a ward and stake Relief Society president, as Primary president and as a teacher in various auxiliaries. Elwin has been a bishop, a high councilman and in a Young Men’s presidency. “In the mission field, there are countless opportunities to serve. It seems, the farther away you get from Church headquarters, the more jobs you get in your ward and stake,” notes Sister Cammack.

After Dr. Cammack’s retirement nearly twenty years ago, the couple moved to Hurricane to live on the 10-acre peach and pecan orchard for which her father traded a house in Rexburg, but, "after four years, we decided this wasn’t retirement,” she notes with a chuckle.

They both agree, “we wouldn’t change a single thing about our life out in the Lord’s vineyard. We became close friends with people in and out of the Church and discovered our Heavenly Father’s children - the temple attenders as well as the beer drinkers, those who speak English, Tagalog, or other Asian tongues - are diverse and wonderful and have enriched our lives beyond what we could have ever imagined!”

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