Corey Comish Holmgren was born and raised in Tremonton, UT. He graduated from Bear River High School in 2002 and loved being on the swim team and playing goalie for their water polo team. He spent 2 summers as a Boy Scout counselor at Camp Loll near Yellowstone on the Wyoming/Idaho border. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florianopolis, Brazil from 2003-2005. Corey graduated from Utah State University in Religious Studies, Portuguese, and Military Science and then went on to receive two Masters degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy and Divinity from Amridge University in Montgomery, AL. As a marriage and family therapist, Corey worked at Lifestar Network in Murray, UT specializing in sexual addiction recovery and worked with families, couples, teenagers, and groups. Corey also served in the Utah Army National Guard as a Chaplain, currently ranking as a Captain, assigned to the 19th Group Special Forces. He loved being in the military and particularly loved working with soldiers. In both professions, he was focused on helping people in their darkest times. Since his passing, we have been blessed to better understand the depth of his influence on everyone he met through those who have reached out to share their experiences. Even months and months later, Corey’s cell phone received text messages from past clients who had not been made aware of the news of his passing and were looking for support or advice or just wanting to catch up with their friend.

This is the same kind of influence he had on his soldiers. Many of the soldiers in Special Forces are not very keen on talking to chaplains. It did take Corey about a year for the unit to warm up to him and trust him, but once they did, Corey was constantly counseling with his soldiers. It didn’t matter who they were, what religion they identified with, or what they needed help with, word quickly spread among all of them, that the “cussing chaplain”, as he was nicknamed, was worth talking to. One soldier in Corey’s unit told Mindi, through tears streaming down his face, that even though he practiced a different faith tradition than Corey, that Corey was the only chaplain he had ever been able to talk to. Corey had completed both Air Assault training (repelling out of helicopters) and Airborne School (jumping out of planes) and was very much looking forward to jumping with his unit. He ended up never getting that chance.

The morning of January 19, 2019, Corey attended a military event where he shared with recently returned home soldiers the resources that were available to them and their families for a positive reintegration experience. He once again offered his services and dedication to them as their chaplain. That afternoon, he went swimming with his family. While swimming laps, he dropped under the water and never resurfaced. He was never able to be revived.

Corey was always dedicated to whatever church calling he had at the time. He served in multiple Elders Quorum presidencies, as a bishopric member, and ward mission leader. Most recently he was a primary teacher and made that class do pushups whenever they misbehaved. He was a great teacher and loved teaching about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Corey loved to meditate and encouraged all of his clients to meditate as well. He was very spiritual in his meditations and would strive to teach others to do the same. His desire was to bring people closer to their Heavenly Father through the healing power of the Atonement.