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Show south often to plan and keep in touch. And this had been the first serious illness that had kept John K in bed during those years in which Bill had been with him. On the day before John K died, his good friend, Joseph R. Bagnall, a life-long friend, died just a few miles away in Chester, Sanpete County. Mr. Bagnall was also a sheep man and a farmer, and was but a few months John K's senior. The evening before his funeral, Virginia, Bill, Pearl, and Aleen drove to Chester to see Mrs. Bagnall and the family members. It was significant that the death and funerals of both friends were announced in the same issue of the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid. A large picture of John K with his personal signature underneath it was given a prominent place on the front page of the Mt. Pleasant Pyramid. It reached its subscribers on May 15th, his funeral day. The wide column heading read: "Mt. Pleasant's No. 1 Sheepman Passes Away-" The contents of the article were much the same as all the other published tributes. The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News both carried special announcements of his death. An editorial in the Deseret News read; In the passing of John K. Madsen, Utah and the nation lose a prominent figure and a sheep husbandman who was ranked foremost among the breeders of purebred Ramhouillet sheep. High ranking officials from Russia, Japan, and the countries of South America came to his ranch in Mt. Pleasant for the purpose of raising the standards of their native he r d s . 258 |
