Stephen A. West, 80, was born on March 23, 1935, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Allan M. West and Ferne Page West. He died in Salt Lake on March 10, 2016, nearly six months after suffering a debilitating stroke.
He married Martha Sears West of Bethesda, Maryland, in the Salt Lake Temple, on March 21, 1960. A year ago, they celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.
Stephen dedicated his life to his faith. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he felt honored and grateful for the trust placed in him as both leader and follower. As a young man he served a church mission in the northwestern states, which then included Alaska. He also served as a bishop, bishop's counselor, high counselor, mission president, and sealer in the Washington, D.C. Temple. As he concluded his service as president of the Texas San Antonio Mission, he was called to serve as a General Authority Seventy, for six years fulfilling assignments in three Area Presidencies in the United States and Canada, as a member of Church committees, and one of several Seventies directing the work of the Church's Curriculum Department. More recently, he served as patriarch of the Logan Utah Mount Logan Stake.
He cherished his experience as a counselor in the branch presidency of a small inner city branch and learned a great deal from the amazing faith and strength of those members. Elder West treasured his association with the missionaries of the Texas San Antonio Mission, over which he presided from 1995 to 1998. Since their recent reunion, he has relived memories and expressed gratitude for the strong men and women they have become.
In his youth, he fought forest fires with the U.S. Forest Service. He loved to be with his family in the outdoors. He had a special love for the natural beauty of the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Tincup, Idaho.
Early in his career he worked as a law clerk in the federal district court of Judge A. Sherman Christensen. For a time he practiced law in Salt Lake City, but in 1967 he relocated to Washington, D.C., where he spent much of his professional life with the Marriott Corporation in Bethesda, Maryland. At the time of his retirement from Marriott in 1994, he was senior vice president and general counsel. Before finally settling in Salt Lake, eighteen years of retirement were spent in Logan, Utah.
Over the years, he has served on the advisory boards of Southern Virginia University and Utah State University. He also served on the Leadership Council of the Brigham Young University Museum of Art.
He attended the University of Chicago before earning his high school diploma from East High in Salt Lake. He enrolled at the University of Utah, but completed a law degree before obtaining his undergraduate degree in philosophy. This perplexes well-meaning editors, who invariably switch the sequence of his degrees to make them appear correct.
Ever the optimist, he saw the best in people and could tell a good story. His generosity of spirit and tolerance of mind were buttressed by a rock solid faith in the Gospel. A lover of biographies, he gleaned life lessons and insights from reading widely and thinking about important matters while retaining a light touch.
The wife and family of Stephen West thank Brookdale Senior Living Solutions and offer high praise and gratitude to everyone there who administered to him with such love and compassion.
Strengthened to the end by his family and his faith, Elder West leaves behind his wife, Martha Alice Sears; son, S. Allan West (Mami); daughter, Page Elizabeth West Mallett (Corey); son, Adam Sears West (Heather); and ten grandchildren: Ray West, Gen Benjamin West, Rick West; Stephen Guy Mallett, Katharine Marie Mallett, Rebecca Ann Mallett; Andrew David West, Brigham Adam West, Emma Colleen West, Jane Martha West; and his brother, Jonathan Page West (Colleen).
Services will be held on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 11:00 am in the Fourteenth Ward chapel located at 142 W 200 N in downtown Salt Lake City. Friends and family may attend a viewing at Larkin Mortuary at 260 E South Temple in Salt Lake City on Friday evening, March 18, between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm, or at the Fourteenth Ward on Saturday, March 19, between 9:30 am and 10:30 am. Interment will take place at about 3:00 PM at the Logan City Cemetery, in Logan, Utah at 1000 N 1200 E.
For those who wish to donate, The BYU Museum of Art, The Nature Conservancy and the Perpetual Education Fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are causes important to Stephen West.
