Dennis Jay McCain, 75, of Elk Ridge, Utah, passed away peacefully in the early hours of June 23, 2024. Born in Bellville, Illinois as the second son of Kenneth Earl McCain and Mary Holman, he moved frequently as a youth living in Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota, France, and Germany, before settling in Spokane, Washington early in his teenage years. He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1965 during the height of Beatles Mania. He remained a lifelong fan.
He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Argentina South Mission. His time in the service of Jesus Christ became a foundational experience for his faith that inspired the rest of his life. He remained an active member of the church serving frequently as a youth leader, Sunday school teacher, stake athletic director, high counselor, member of the bishopric, and temple worker in the Columbia River Temple.
He met and fell and love with Carol Kesler, from Long Beach, California, during his freshman year at Brigham Young University. They dated for two years at BYU and got married after his mission in the Los Angeles Temple in July of 1970. He and his “huckleberry” remained married until his death living in Spokane, Seattle, Richland, Kennewick, and eventually Elk Ridge, Utah. They lived in the same home in Kennewick, Washington for 41 years, which is where they raised their five children.
Dennis graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Chemistry and later an MBA. He worked at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation for the majority of his career as a Nuclear Standards Laboratory Manager and a Quality Assurance Auditor. Although the family never got to visit his workspace (it was protected by guards carrying machine guns), he always had plenty of time for his wife and children. He attended every youth basketball game, concert, or recital and excelled in cheering on not only his own kids, but their teammates as well.
He was passionate about music his entire life with some of his favorite songs being “Hey Jude” by the Beatles and “Desperado” by the Eagles. He loved to play his music loud, irreverently, and smiled as he sang along to every lyric cached in his nearly photographic memory. He was the lead singer for a fun dad band, called “Hammer Logic” and belted out the tunes from many decades. Although he was 97 percent old school rock-and-roll, he was a sought-out member for many different church choirs. One of the highlights of his life was being in the choir singing in the celestial room during the dedication of the Columbia River Temple.
Dennis also liked to explore, never wanting to drive down the same road twice. He loved learning about the local history of the places he visited whether it be about the Native American Tribes that inhabited the Columbia Plateau, the Hawaiian natives united under King Kamehameha, or the early Mormon pioneers and settlers. He always knew what happened where, and was the consummate tour guide, even if some of those tours were given well after the sun went down.
He is survived by and will be missed by his loving wife, Carol; his brothers, Gary (Evelyn) and Marvin (Janie); his sister, Marianne Lybbert (Curt); his children, Aaron (Candace), Laurel MacDougall (Tom), Heather Lewis (Brandon), Carl (Devin), and David; 18 grandchildren; and 2 great-grandchildren.
The funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 29 at 11am at the LDS Chapel located at 75 South, 600 East, Payson, Utah with interment at the Payson Cemetery. The viewing will be held from 9:30am to 10:45am on Saturday morning.

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