Family remembers Cache County man who died after snowmobile accident

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PROVIDENCE, Cache County — From his family home near a stretch of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, Chris Checketts had a view of the mountains through a bedroom window he cut out himself.

His wife, Sandra Checketts, said it’s just one example of how much he loved the outdoors. “He really lived his life to the fullest,” she said.

Chris Checketts was a champion snowmobiler, and ultimately died after a snowmobiling accident in the Tony Grove area last Thursday.

Providence, Cache County, residents Chris and Sandra Checketts. Chris Checketts was a champion snowmobiler who died Saturday, April 6, 2019, after a snowmobiling accident in the Tony Grove area on the prior Thursday. (Photo: Family photo)

Chris Checketts was at first badly injured, but he was taken off life support on Saturday — which also happened to be his birthday.

“He was doing what he loved,” Sandra Checketts said. “We’ve been going through pictures, and we have tens of thousands of pictures of activities our family’s had the privilege to do.”

Even in death, however, Sandra Checketts said her husband continues to give and serve. The family learned over the weekend that he was registered as an organ donor.

“Chris’s sister was in the room and we mentioned that we were donating his kidneys, and she immediately just burst into tears because her next-door neighbor has been waiting for a kidney,” Sandra Checketts explained.

"And they ended up matching," daughter Brittany Huish said.

“And it wasn’t a sacrifice, it was a birthday gift," Sandra Checketts said. "And I want whoever is out there that gets to be a part of our life to know that it was a birthday gift from Chris.”

“He was so focused on the gift of his body, and the strength of his body,” daughter Kylie Bischoff added. “And that’s what helped so that he could help other people.”

Providence, Cache County, resident Chris Checketts, center, and his family. Checketts was a champion snowmobiler who ddied Saturday, April 6, 2019, two days after he was injured in a snowmobile accident. (Photo: Family photo)

Meantime, the Checketts family says their husband and father continues to influence their lives in ways that are hard to explain.

“As much as it sounds like the right thing to say that he’s gone, I can’t,” Huish said. “He’s not gone. He’s everywhere. He’s in the mountains that we see. He’s in the beautiful stars at night.”

In recent weeks, Sandra Checketts said she feels her husband was being prepared for his passing.

“He (was) talking about eternities and Jesus and Heavenly Father on a more deeper note. I can’t explain it,” she said. “Now that he’s passed and we read what he’s left us, it totally makes sense. He had a bigger picture than we did.”

Funeral services for Chris Checketts will be held Wednesday at the Millville Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 360 E. 450 North.