Vernal Cleverley

On December 29, 2024, Vernal Lyle Cleverley (88) of Glendale, California, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving wife and daughters.

Vern was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on September 23, 1936, to Melba Wilkie and Howard Cleverley. As a youth, he attended schools in Idaho Falls and attended college at Idaho State University. He served a mission in the California Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he was an assistant to the mission president. After his mission, he attended Brigham Young University, where he met his wife, Linda Jane Smurthwaite. Vern and Linda were married on June 3, 1968, in the Salt Lake City, Utah, temple. They moved to Glendale, California, in January 1969, where they established their roots and raised their family.

Vern worked for the Kentucky Roast Beef Corporation, opening up stores in Las Vegas, Nevada, and North Hollywood, California. He also owned a Baskin-Robbins store (pink spoons can still be found in Vern and Linda’s garage). Later, Vern began working in the audio visual industry, and he started his own company in 1989.

A devoted, lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vern loved to teach the Gospel of our Savior, and spent many hours studying and preparing lessons.

Unceasingly kind and generous with his time, compliments, and resources, Vern habitually looked for the lowly and down-trodden. Some of his altruistic acts were large, but most often small—an encouraging word to the passerby, anonymously paying for a stranger’s meal, or slipping someone a small bill to put a “pep” in their step. “A small investment,” he would say, “to get a friend for life.”

Vern was blessed with a keen, inquiring mind and was an avid reader and car enthusiast. One of his simple joys in life was zipping around LA in his dark green 1972 Volvo 1800ES wagon.

Vern is loved and missed by Linda and their four daughters, Julia Manning (Tyson), Jennifer Peoples (Sean), Rachel Cleverley (Josh Warner), and Charlotte Wilkinson (Brady), along with seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers Lynn Harker and Richard Cleverley. Vern was preceded in death by his parents Melba Wilkie and Howard Cleverley and brothers Orville Cleverley and Kent Harker.

Funeral services will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1101 North Central, Glendale, CA 91202 on Friday, January 17, 2025 at 10:00 AM with a visitation from 9:00 to 9:45 AM prior to the service. 

Visitation hours at Forest Lawn Mortuary, 1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91205 will be on Thursday, January 16, 2025 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM. 

The funeral service will also be available live online Friday the 17th at 10:00 am at: 

https://zoom.us/j/.96745416143?pwd=Y5-doLdwrCHCUFOQ1lAn-QLAF2U3Y4Ka.1

Webinar ID: 967 4541 6143

Passcode: 913610