GUNNISON – The Gunnison Valley Lions Club honored Lamar B. Bartholomew with the Lions’ Humanitarian Award for 2022 at the annual Charter and Humanitarian Banquet on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Lamar was born to Izola and Blaine Bartholomew in 1940 in Gunnison, Utah. He was a 1958 graduate of Gunnison Valley High School, where he excelled on the track team. He served as a missionary in the Northern States Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Lamar met and married Carol Louise Cain in 1962 in Los Angeles, California.
Lamar graduated from Brigham Young University in political science and economics and later earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration, also from BYU.
As a young man, Lamar served eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve and worked for the federal government in intelligence, including two years in Vietnam. Afterward, he moved his family to California, where he worked as an administrator in city and county government for 30 years. He then taught special education in public schools for several more years.
While in California, he was a leader in the Boy Scouts of America and was awarded the Silver Beaver.
After retiring, the Bartholomews moved back home to Fayette in 2000, where his service to the Gunnison Valley began. He served as mayor of Fayette for eight years and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Gunnison Valley Hospital.
In addition to his community service, he and his family are active in serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has served in many capacities, including district president in Saigon, in bishoprics and stake presidencies in Utah and California, and as president of the Modesto California North Stake.
Lamar and his wife, Carolyn, have served several missions for the church, including a humanitarian mission to Russia and as president of the Armenia Yerevan Mission for three years. He has also served in the Manti Utah Temple and as a patriarch.
Lamar and Carolyn are nearing their 60th wedding anniversary and are the proud parents of nine children, 33 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Debbie Greener, the Gunnison Valley Lions Club president, presented Bartholomew with his award and said that the Gunnison Valley looks forward to many more years of his service and friendship.
