Grant Ennes Barton

GRANT ENNES BARTON

A Faithful Modern-day Pioneer

Grant E. Barton passed away peacefully on May 22, 2026 from complications of Parkinson's Disease leaving behind a remarkable legacy of faith, scholarship, music, missionary work, and Christlike service. Born on August 14, 1940, in Tremonton, Utah, to Dr. Ray H. Barton Jr. and Helen Grant Barton, Grant lived a life deliberately consecrated to God, family, learning, and the lifting of others.

Raised in Salt Lake City in a profoundly musical home, Grant learned the cello at a young age and developed a lifelong love of music. Throughout his marriage, he and his sweetheart Marilyn often played cello and piano duets together in meetings and firesides. He also loved playing the piano, guitar, and ukulele, and could play by ear. In 2018 Grant wrote and composed two new hymns: Gathering Israel! and As We Overcome.

Grant graduated from East High School in 1958, where he served as secretary of the Boys Association and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. His lifelong pursuit of truth and education led him to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Utah, followed by a Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology and a PhD in Educational Communications from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972. He later served at Brigham Young University in Instructional Research and Development and taught religion courses as an adjunct faculty member. He was also a devoted supporter of BYU athletics.

As a thirteen-year-old boy, Grant received a Patriarchal Blessing promising that he would “preach the gospel in many lands.” That promise became the defining motif of his life. He gave more than twenty years of set-apart service to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spent thirty years as a devoted Church employee.

From 1960 to 1963, Grant served in the Swiss-Austrian Mission, where he learned German and developed a lifelong testimony of prayer and missionary work. Missionaries from that mission have continued gathering monthly for more than sixty years. He also served six years in the Air National Guard Reserve.

In 1963, Grant met Marilyn Debenham. After their first visit, he confidently told his mother, “I could marry that girl!” They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 19, 1964, and built a home centered on prayer, education, hospitality, music, and faith. Grant deeply admired Marilyn. He opened doors for her, summarized the morning newspaper aloud to her, and continually spoke of her goodness and beauty. Together they established a loving eternal family and celebrated milestones such as their 40th anniversary cruise to the Caribbean and their 50th anniversary trip to Hawaii with their children.

Throughout their lives, Grant and Marilyn opened their home to international students, missionaries, and refugee families. In 1979, they welcomed a Laotian refugee family into their home. Grant gently taught them The Plan of Salvation through an interpreter. The family later joined the Church, and the father became the first president of the Salt Lake Asian Branch.

Professionally, Grant served as Curriculum Manager for the Church from 1977 to 1982, supervising the publication of instructional manuals and contributing to major Church curriculum and scripture projects. While serving on the Church Meetinghouse Library Committee, he conducted foundational research that contributed to the publication of the Latter-day Saint edition of the Holy Bible with unified scripture references and page numbering.

From 1982 to 1985, Grant presided over the Texas Dallas Mission, leading hundreds of missionaries and witnessing the groundbreaking and dedication of the Dallas Texas Temple. As a devoted team, he and Marilyn worked side by side to uplift missionaries, strengthen members, and maintain lifelong relationships with many of those they served.

Grant later served for many years at the Missionary Training Center in Provo as Director of Training, helping pioneer programs that transformed missionary preparation, including the Training Resource Center where missionaries practiced teaching investigators. He also served as bishop of a BYU newly married student ward and later as a high counselor.

In 2000, Grant and Marilyn served in Ghana as Area Welfare Agents, helping thousands gain employment and develop self-reliance skills. This experience profoundly shaped their hearts, and they developed a deep love and kinship with the people they served. After returning and officially retiring, they continued humanitarian efforts in Africa with Reach the Children, supporting education and development initiatives. Grant spent a decade on the advisory board for the Academy for Creating Enterprise and authoring business training materials for international chapters. He served as the National President of the Sons of Utah Pioneers in 2006. They served another mission in 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, managing an employment resource center where Grant taught in Spanish.

From 2011 to 2020, Grant and Marilyn served together as ordinance workers in the Salt Lake Temple, often portraying Adam and Eve in live temple sessions. Their temple service brought them tremendous joy and deep lifelong friendships, including a temple study group that has continued meeting monthly for six years.

Grant loved the scriptures, meaningful conversation, missionary work, education, family history, music, humor, and gathering people together. He had a gift for helping individuals feel seen, capable, and loved. He loved to laugh and to make others laugh, especially Marilyn, his children, and his grandchildren. His family brought him immense joy, and he delighted in their varied paths, especially as many chose lives of service.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Ray H. Barton Jr. and Helen Grant Barton; his father-in-law, Shirley Ray Debenham; his mother-in-law, Lillian Grerghun Debenham and other siblings.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Marilyn Debenham Barton; his five children, Richard (Melissa) Barton, Christine (Terrell) Mullins, Steve (Jen) Barton, Catherine (Jerem) Pitt, and Heather Murphy; 32 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.

Grant was a man of great love, deep joy, towering intellect, humor, extraordinary vocabulary, and remarkable academic rigor. Yet he would say his greatest strength was his deliberate daily choice to place his life in the service of Jesus Christ.

A viewing will be held on Friday, May 29, from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 275 East 10600 South, Sandy, UT, 84070. A second viewing will take place on Saturday, May 30, from 9:30-10:30 AM at the same location, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 AM. To view Grant's service online via Zoom, please click the blue tab above that says "Watch Services". Interment will take place at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.