John Hiram Lovell — called “Hi” by everyone who knew him — was born on December 13, 1899, in Shelton, Jefferson County, Idaho. He grew up as a farmer near Ririe, Idaho, where he also completed an early mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Midwest. After returning from his mission he became a commercial electrician, a trade he practiced for much of his working life.

He married Velda Annie Perry in the Logan Temple on June 7, 1922. They had two children: a daughter, Gayl, and a son, Perry K. Lovell, born five years apart.

Hi worked as an electrician in Wyoming and elsewhere in the region. On one return trip home for Thanksgiving — while traveling near the Palisades area of Idaho — he was struck by a drunk driver. Both of his legs were broken and several ribs were fractured. He was hospitalized for an extended period but recovered and returned to his trade, eventually working as an electrician at an Idaho Falls hospital.

In June 1956, Hi was called on a work mission to the Church College of Hawaii in Laie, Oahu, where the Church was constructing a new campus. He served as one of the mainland supervisors, overseeing electrical construction on the project for nearly three years. Velda accompanied him and served as a temple guide. The family sold their home at 281 West 17th Street in Idaho Falls before leaving for Hawaii and purchased a house on 21st Street upon their return around 1958–59.

Hi was known for a quiet, warm personality — humorous and spiritually sincere, prone to tears during Thanksgiving prayers — but firm when he felt he had been wronged. He and Velda spent their retirement winters in Mesa, Arizona and later in Overton, Nevada.

On January 1, 1979, while the family was on a Rose Parade tour and visiting Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, Hi suffered a stroke. He was rushed to Anaheim Hospital and later transferred to a rehabilitation facility in the Bay Area that specialized in stroke recovery. He regained the ability to walk and partial use of his left side. He returned home to Idaho Falls in February 1981.

In October 1982, Hi and Velda flew to Michigan so that Hi could ordain his grandson Russell a High Priest. On the return journey, at the Salt Lake City airport, Hi had to walk farther than expected and was severely exhausted by the effort. Gayl met them at the Idaho Falls airport with a wheelchair. Hi refused to go to a hospital, walked into the house, got into bed, and died within minutes of arriving home. His tired heart stopped on October 10, 1982. He was survived by his wife Velda and their two children.