Hugh Sloan West Sr.

Hugh Sloan West, Sr. of Salt Lake City, Utah passed away on September 26, 2025 at the age of 101, not nearly enough years for those who knew and loved this best of men.

Hugh was born in Portland, Oregon on January 28, 1924 to Richard Ballantyne West and Ruth Sloan. When he was four years old, his mother passed away and his father later married Florence Bowen who thoughtfully mothered three stepsons. His summers were spent at camp on beautiful Spirit Lake at the foot of Mount St. Helens, and on the golf course and tennis court. In 1939 the family moved to Palo Alto, California where Hugh attended Palo Alto High School and then Stanford University for a year before enlisting in the Navy. He was transferred to Cal Tech University for midshipman’s school during World War II where he earned a degree in engineering, and served as a lieutenant aboard the USS Butner in the South Pacific. After the war, Hugh returned to Palo Alto to attend Stanford Business School, and later served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in England. He met Sue Gillison, ten years his junior, shortly after his return to Portland and they were married in 1952. Their marriage was an exquisite model of affection and devotion for their seven children.

Our father worked for 25 years as an executive in the booming life insurance industry for Connecticut General Life Insurance in Hartford CT and Salt Lake City, later concluding his career in financial planning for Wallace Associates. During the infancy of the Church in New England he served as a district president in the Eastern States Mission. He was the beloved stake president of the newly formed Hartford Stake in Connecticut from 1966 to 1971, and again in the Emigration Stake in Salt Lake City from 1982 to 1990. From 1990 to 1993 Hugh and Sue served as mission leaders in the Columbus, OH mission. He was a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple well into his eighties.

Our father taught us everything that truly mattered: to seek truth, to love nature, to work honestly, to be a devoted spouse, to show grace, to rescue spiders; and this gentleman’s worst expletive was “Oh, thud!” His humility, wisdom, compassion, and curiosity made him a safe place to land for everyone, always. He was, as our mother often and affectionately called him, “the most wonderful man in the world.”

So many precious memories flood our minds and hearts: his love of canyon breakfasts with grandchildren; his lack of bravado about his sports prowess (tennis, golf, water polo, college basketball and baseball); his loyalty to the University of Utah, BYU and Stanford sports teams; his gourmet taste - Miracle Whip on tacos, cold butter on peanut butter sandwiches, grape jelly and egg omelets; a mind given to exploration of doctrine, philosophy and metaphysics, which his son and son-in-law read and discussed with him daily in his final years; his faithful, thoughtful embrace of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and his unfailing love and care for our mother. Her well-being was his first priority until the day he passed away. Every good thing in life will remind us of him and bring us comfort and joy.

Hugh is survived by his wife of 73 years, Sue; children Ruth Lowe (Steve), Hugh (Julia), Katie Strike (Tony), Emmy Burton (Richard), Will (Lisa), John (Jan) and Anna Pearce (James); and 34 grandchildren and 53 great-grandchildren who adored their “Grandpa Powie”. He was preceded in death by his grandson, William Ballantyne West, Jr., his brothers Richard West (Jo) and Robert West (Carol), and his sister Susan West.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 1st from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary Services (2350 E, 1300 S.) Services will be held on Thursday, October 2nd at the Federal Heights Ward (1300 E Fairfax Road) at 11:00 AM with visitation from 9:30 to 10:40 AM.

For those unable to attend, services will be streamed via Zoom on the Larkin Mortuary web site. https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/qYm9wZCzDvLKhL6_jZXmgXG5zKO1nF8EhYZcHDHAuD1tc63N7SRw5nOTlHNcjxtc.Iy4VkMYiMqnYRK0_?startTime=1759424491000