Stephen Douglas Jansen

Stephen Douglas Jansen of South Jordan, Utah passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 2, 2023, due to natural causes. He was 82 years old.

Steve was born on September 5, 1941, in Salt Lake City, Utah and attended Granite High School. After high school, he worked at Andy’s Famous Smorgasbord Restaurant where he became an expert chef and wowed customers with his salads and dressings he made from scratch. He enjoyed creating decorative food dishes, often in the shapes of animals, for special events and catering.

He met his sweetheart, Charlette McCleery, at Andy’s where she worked as a waitress. They were married on February 14, 1963, and later sealed for time and all eternity in the Jordan River LDS Temple.

Steve started his career with Granite School District as a custodian in 1967, and in 1970 was promoted to Head Custodian at Valley Junior High School. Steve won numerous awards at Valley and was extremely proud of his accomplishments for having the best kept grounds and cleanest school in the district year after year. He particularly enjoyed working with the faculty and students at Valley Jr. High, where they playfully gave him the nickname “Slick” due to his slicked back “greaser” hairstyle. He always carried a comb in his back pocket that he would use to slick back his hair, to the amusement of the students and staff. He retired from Valley Jr. High in 1999 after 32 years of dedicated service.

Steve was a true outdoorsman and enjoyed mule deer hunting every year. Some of his mule deer trophies are featured in several record books and he always had a hunting story to tell his friends and family, or anyone that shared his passion for deer hunting. Later in life, he traded his hunting rifle for a camera and took amazing videos and still shots of the deer that he would find in the canyons close to home.
Steve was meticulous about taking care of his yard and enjoyed gardening. He loved growing giant pumpkins and tomatoes that he would have his grandchildren pose with to show off their enormous size for fun. He was also fond of feeding and caring for the wild birds that would find their way into his yard. He owned several antique cars and trucks over the years, loved going to car shows, and was especially proud of his 1961 Corvette.

Steve’s greatest joy came from telling everyone about his son Doug and daughter Kim. He took every opportunity to share stories about his son the brave firefighter, and never missed his daughter’s community orchestra performances, even if it meant driving through blizzards and snowstorms to be there.

Steve is survived by his daughter Kim (Scott) Tingley, grandchildren Casey (Kellie) Jansen, Zachary (Nicole) Jansen, River (David) Tabakian, Jonathan Jansen, Genevieve Jansen, Shane Tingley, and Sydney Tingley, great-grandchildren Dylan, K.C., Braxten, Blaze, Wyatt, Samantha, and Bridget. He was preceded in death by his father Reinder Jansen, Jr., his mother Nora Genevieve Goodspeed Jansen, his brother Ronald Jansen, his wife Charlette Jansen, and his son Douglas Jansen.

Steve’s family would like to thank the staff at CNS Nursing Services, A+ Hospice Care, and The Peaks Assisted Living, for the loving care they provided.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at Larkin Mortuary Riverton, 3688 West 12600 South, Riverton, UT. A visitation will be held Friday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 pm and Saturday afternoon from 12:30 - 1:30 pm. Interment to follow at Larkin Sunset Gardens Cemetery.