Wanda West Badger

Wanda West Badger, our beautiful 98-year-old mother, tap-danced her way into heaven on December 3, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was warmly greeted by her beloved eternal companion, Briant Garr Badger, her two sons, Stephen West Badger and David Garr Badger, her father David Arnold West, and her mother Isabelle Groo Woolley West, who passed away when Wanda was just six years old. Wanda was born July 5, 1922, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to David and Isabelle Woolley West. She spent several years in Pleasant Grove with family after her mother’s passing, then moved back to Salt Lake where she attended school, graduating from East High. She loved her years at the University of Utah and had many unique experiences during this time in her life. Besides school and campus activities, she modeled for ZCMI and took some time off to work for a congressman in Washington, D.C., which afforded her the opportunity of being in close proximity to Winston Churchill, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. But nothing topped the romance that began when Wanda met Briant Badger at a church dance. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 20, 1943, beginning an eternally devoted and loving romance. Together they were parents of nine cherished children: Stephen (Sandra), Barbara (Rich) McKeown, Becky Harding, Briant (Cindy), David (Eva), William (Cindy), Mary Jane, Robert (Annette), and John (Chaconne). She has 33 grandchildren and 80 great-grandchildren. We are grateful to our sister, Mary Jane, who unselfishly took care of our mother during the last three years of her life so she could remain comfortably in the family home where she has lived for 69 years. Wanda was a lifelong active and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She loved the Lord and had an unwavering testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. She served in leadership and teaching positions in Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary, and always went above and beyond to fulfill every calling. In 1990 she had the choice opportunity to serve a mission in Frankfurt, Germany, where Bri was the executive secretary to the Europe Area Presidency, and Wanda served as his secretary. In addition to her prime calling as the mother of nine children, Wanda was a popular and gifted speaker, particularly on the topics of family history and scrapbooking. She was also a respected historian and writer, with more than 90 articles published in magazines and newspapers. She had her first article published in the Salt Lake Tribune Junior at the tender age of ten! She left bookcases full of scrapbooks covering each period of her life, scrapbooks for each child, and several volumes of grandchildren scrapbooks, along with many beautifully written and documented family histories that will be cherished by her posterity forever. But even with her skills as a writer, she could not have scripted the sacred events that marked her passing from this mortal life, all in the Lord’s perfect timing. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). A family graveside service will be held.