Steven Lavere Brown
After graduating from high school, I moved to Safford, Arizona, and entered Eastern Arizona Junior College in September 1951 and graduated in May 1953. I was very involved in the LDS Institute and was even a cheerleader for the basketball and football teams. I honored my priesthood callings and served every Sunday in some capacity in the Safford LDS Ward. I will be forever grateful to the bishop and ward members for their kindness to me as a young man without any parents. I worked part time at JCPenney starting at 85 cents/hour, raised to $1.25/hour by the time I graduated. This was a happy two years.
On September 9, 1951, I was ordained an elder by Robert Mortensen and endowed in the Mesa Temple on September 5, 1953. I received my endowments and began my mission in the Western States Mission on October 18, 1953 where I served as the assistant to the mission president during my last eight months. My release came on October 18, 1955.
How did the Steven and Glenna Brown family get its start? On my way home, I went to Salt Lake City to see Glenna Wright, my mission president’s daughter. I had several wonderful dates with her for two days. I knew then that Glenna was very special and that she would become very important in my life. I just didn’t know how soon I would even get to see her again. I left Salt Lake City and drove home to Safford, Arizona. Uncle Sam was waiting for me and allowed me only one month before I was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Ord, California, and Fort Lewis, Washington. During the next eight months, I wrote many letters to Glenna and prayed often to my Heavenly Father about her. In June and July of 1956, I went to a remote area of pine trees on the base. After praying and fasting to know if I should ask Glenna to marry me, the Lord answered my prayers and I knew she was to be my sweetheart and wife. I also prayed she would say “YES!” On a two-week leave from Fort Lewis, Washington, Glenna and I were married July 16, 1956 in the Salt Lake City Temple.
After returning to Fort Lewis, I was shipped out to Anchorage, Alaska for my overseas duty. Three months later, Glenna joined me and we spent the next year in America’s last frontier. Glenna worked for the Army Audit Agency. Alaska was beautiful in the summer, but very cold and dark in the winter. We were very active in our LDS ward and did a lot of sightseeing to Alaska’s scenic areas and glaciers. Our first year of marriage was an incredible honeymoon in Anchorage, Alaska! When my service was completed, we drove down the Alaskan Highway (5 days/16 hours a day/only gravel then) to Tacoma, Washington where I was discharged on September 13, 1957.
Our next destination was Provo, Utah, to attend Brigham Young University. We loved Provo and attending school. Once again I was working part time at JCPenney; Glenna was secretary to the Director of Libraries. In May 1959, I graduated from BYU. We lived mostly in the Provo 2nd Ward where on April 14, 1963 I was ordained a High Priest and became a counselor in the bishopric. Later on August 13, 1967, I was ordained bishop of our ward by Elder John H. Vandenburg. Our biggest challenge during this assignment was to raise $8,500 in a very limited time for the new Provo Temple. Our ward membership responded to our prayers, and we raised $10,000 for the temple. Here in Provo, the most important events of our lives happened—the blessing of having three beautiful children. Cindy was born May 12, 1958, Glen was born May 22, 1961, and Jonathan Paul was born June 11, 1964. Jonathan died at the age of two days from a congenital heart disease.
After graduation, I worked for the JCPenney Company in Provo and Salt Lake as a member of the management team. In 1973, I changed companies and our family moved to Denver, Colorado where I worked as the District Manager over the Colorado Fashion Fabric Stores. We lived in the Denver 16th Ward where Elder Paul H. Dunn set me apart as a bishop on February 16, 1974. By the spring of 1975, Fashion Fabrics started having serious financial problems; I resigned and went to work as a merchandise buyer for Skaggs Drug Company/American Stores in Salt Lake City. Our family bought a home in Bountiful, and we became members of the Bountiful 39th Ward.
Cindy and Glen both graduated from BYU. Cindy majored in Spanish, spent six months in Spain with BYU’s Study Abroad Program, and taught at Cyprus and Cottonwood High School. Cindy married Dane Van Pelt in the Salt Lake Temple (one week after she graduated). Cindy’s three children (our grandchildren) Aubrey, Rachel, and Ryan hold top rank in our family. Children and grandchildren are true treasures. Glen served his mission in Honduras, received his degree in accounting, and then his master’s in organizational behavior. He is a cost accountant consultant for Regency Blue Cross Blue Shield. Cindy and Glen have brought Glenna and me many precious experiences and moments in our lives. They were perfect children never causing us great concerns. They were exceptional students during their school years and have accomplished so much in their lives. They have been faithful and served in many leadership positions in our church. Oh, how I love them and appreciate their love and support.
Over the next 21 years what began as Skaggs became the object of many buyouts, takeovers, and name changes. I retired in July of 1997. Glenna worked for Dr. Gudmundson until his retirement, then for Dr. Smith as their office manager until her retirement in 1998.
As a family, we’ve enjoyed traveling, camping, and seeing the national parks and sights throughout the West. Over the last ten years, we’ve added four wheeling adventures to our travels and have had the opportunity of enjoying remote places in Southern Utah and Southern Colorado. We had the “trip of a lifetime” in Mexico and Belize with Glen about a year after he returned from his mission. Every minute was an adventure! Yellowstone National Park, Teton National Park, and Zion’s National Park have been our favorite family vacations. It has been such a joy to hike and see all the majestic wildlife: deer, antelope, elk, eagles, otters, buffalo, grizzly and black bears, wolves, and big horn sheep in these parks.
In the Bountiful 39th Ward since 1975, I have served as a Sunday school teacher, ward mission leader, Stake Sunday school president, and high priest group leader. Since April 1998, I have served as a Bountiful Temple ordinance worker. Glenna has been such a faithful and spiritual daughter of our Heavenly Father teaching Sunday school classes and serving several positions in the Relief Society as well as Relief Society president (Granger and Bountiful 39th Ward). Oh, how the sisters loved her and her faithful, dedicated leadership. In November 2006, I was called to serve as a stake financial clerk in our stake presidency which I truly enjoy. The Lord has truly blessed me in my church callings with many spiritual experiences. Working in the Bountiful Temple as a temple ordinance worker has been the most incredible spiritual experience of my life. I have witnessed many miracles in the temple with temple patrons on a monthly basis. I have walked into the Celestial Room on a weekly basis to feel the spirit of the Lord in such great abundance. As I have witnessed faithful saints in the temple, tears have flowed freely and I have enjoyed their hugs. I know the Lord has even visited this sacred Celestial Room.
Glenna and I have had a great life together. However, on Mother’s Day 2006, Glenna was not feeling well so I took her to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. She had a shortness of breath and really felt miserable. Despite suffering a stroke, two doctors at LDS Hospital felt she was improving and let her come home after two weeks. Because she was still having a difficult time after being home for two weeks, I took her to Lakeview Hospital here in Bountiful. They immediately put her in intensive care; doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia. After one day, she stopped breathing on her own and doctors had to assist her breathing with life support. After one week, the doctors informed us they had done all they could do but still hadn’t discovered Glenna’s real problems. We then flew her in the life support helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital. After one week, the doctors finally informed us Glenna’s stomach and lungs were full of cancer. There was nothing they could do to help cure her of this terrible disease. On June 27th, we had to make the hardest decision we have ever made. We had to tell the doctors that morning to take Glenna off life support. My dear sweetheart took her last two breaths at 10:45 am and she slipped beyond the veil into the presence of our Heavenly Father. We held her funeral in the 39th Ward on July 3, 2006. There were so many dear relatives and friends who came to pay their respects to this elect lady. I am so thankful we had 49 years, eleven months, and two weeks together as sweethearts.
At 74, this event completely turned my life upside down. The lonely hours since her passing have caused the tears to flow almost every day. I love her and miss her so much. She gave me such wonderful children in Cindy, Glen, and Jonathan Paul. I believe Glenna’s unexpected death was probably the hardest event in Cindy and Glen’s life as well as my own. I am so thankful I have Cindy and Glen’s love and support which has helped me more than words can express to get through this great sadness in my life. The Zigich and Rust families as well as so many choice friends in the 39th ward have been such a blessing in my life. I am also thankful for my brothers and sisters (Dewaine, Cameron, Ferneth, and Rita) who along with our extended family have truly blessed my life and helped me to move on. Their love and support is priceless.
In the last year, our family was blessed with two weddings. My granddaughter Rachel married her best friend Scott Warner on May 7, 2010, and Glen married his true love Carol Weatherly on July 16, 2010. Scott, Carol, and her two daughters Lori and Anna are a wonderful addition to our family. Glen, Carol, Scott, and Rachel are such wonderful couples and are very much in love. These two weddings have blessed our family in many ways.
It is now August of 2011 and I am so grateful for all the tender mercies from the Lord. I love and feel even closer to my Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now as I depend on them even more since my sweetheart Glenna left me. My testimony is even stronger as the Holy Ghost has touched my heart so many times and testified unto me of these great eternal truths and doctrines we have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 4:15-16 which states, “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and profit of my children. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” I have seen and heard of miracles throughout my life and felt the Spirit of the Lord in helping me come unto Christ that I may truly become one of his disciples.
Life is fragile, and we never know for sure what plans the Lord has for us or how long we will live upon this earth. So believe me when I say, live every day of your life to the fullest, be happy, and work hard to be successful in your life. I have trusted in the Lord all my life, and I am so thankful for my dear family and the joy they have brought me in my life. I know the Lord is in charge, and I will do everything possible to live his teachings and keep his commandments to be worthy to lead my family in the eternities to come — that is the most important goal in my life.
On September 9, 1951, I was ordained an elder by Robert Mortensen and endowed in the Mesa Temple on September 5, 1953. I received my endowments and began my mission in the Western States Mission on October 18, 1953 where I served as the assistant to the mission president during my last eight months. My release came on October 18, 1955.
How did the Steven and Glenna Brown family get its start? On my way home, I went to Salt Lake City to see Glenna Wright, my mission president’s daughter. I had several wonderful dates with her for two days. I knew then that Glenna was very special and that she would become very important in my life. I just didn’t know how soon I would even get to see her again. I left Salt Lake City and drove home to Safford, Arizona. Uncle Sam was waiting for me and allowed me only one month before I was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Ord, California, and Fort Lewis, Washington. During the next eight months, I wrote many letters to Glenna and prayed often to my Heavenly Father about her. In June and July of 1956, I went to a remote area of pine trees on the base. After praying and fasting to know if I should ask Glenna to marry me, the Lord answered my prayers and I knew she was to be my sweetheart and wife. I also prayed she would say “YES!” On a two-week leave from Fort Lewis, Washington, Glenna and I were married July 16, 1956 in the Salt Lake City Temple.
After returning to Fort Lewis, I was shipped out to Anchorage, Alaska for my overseas duty. Three months later, Glenna joined me and we spent the next year in America’s last frontier. Glenna worked for the Army Audit Agency. Alaska was beautiful in the summer, but very cold and dark in the winter. We were very active in our LDS ward and did a lot of sightseeing to Alaska’s scenic areas and glaciers. Our first year of marriage was an incredible honeymoon in Anchorage, Alaska! When my service was completed, we drove down the Alaskan Highway (5 days/16 hours a day/only gravel then) to Tacoma, Washington where I was discharged on September 13, 1957.
Our next destination was Provo, Utah, to attend Brigham Young University. We loved Provo and attending school. Once again I was working part time at JCPenney; Glenna was secretary to the Director of Libraries. In May 1959, I graduated from BYU. We lived mostly in the Provo 2nd Ward where on April 14, 1963 I was ordained a High Priest and became a counselor in the bishopric. Later on August 13, 1967, I was ordained bishop of our ward by Elder John H. Vandenburg. Our biggest challenge during this assignment was to raise $8,500 in a very limited time for the new Provo Temple. Our ward membership responded to our prayers, and we raised $10,000 for the temple. Here in Provo, the most important events of our lives happened—the blessing of having three beautiful children. Cindy was born May 12, 1958, Glen was born May 22, 1961, and Jonathan Paul was born June 11, 1964. Jonathan died at the age of two days from a congenital heart disease.
After graduation, I worked for the JCPenney Company in Provo and Salt Lake as a member of the management team. In 1973, I changed companies and our family moved to Denver, Colorado where I worked as the District Manager over the Colorado Fashion Fabric Stores. We lived in the Denver 16th Ward where Elder Paul H. Dunn set me apart as a bishop on February 16, 1974. By the spring of 1975, Fashion Fabrics started having serious financial problems; I resigned and went to work as a merchandise buyer for Skaggs Drug Company/American Stores in Salt Lake City. Our family bought a home in Bountiful, and we became members of the Bountiful 39th Ward.
Cindy and Glen both graduated from BYU. Cindy majored in Spanish, spent six months in Spain with BYU’s Study Abroad Program, and taught at Cyprus and Cottonwood High School. Cindy married Dane Van Pelt in the Salt Lake Temple (one week after she graduated). Cindy’s three children (our grandchildren) Aubrey, Rachel, and Ryan hold top rank in our family. Children and grandchildren are true treasures. Glen served his mission in Honduras, received his degree in accounting, and then his master’s in organizational behavior. He is a cost accountant consultant for Regency Blue Cross Blue Shield. Cindy and Glen have brought Glenna and me many precious experiences and moments in our lives. They were perfect children never causing us great concerns. They were exceptional students during their school years and have accomplished so much in their lives. They have been faithful and served in many leadership positions in our church. Oh, how I love them and appreciate their love and support.
Over the next 21 years what began as Skaggs became the object of many buyouts, takeovers, and name changes. I retired in July of 1997. Glenna worked for Dr. Gudmundson until his retirement, then for Dr. Smith as their office manager until her retirement in 1998.
As a family, we’ve enjoyed traveling, camping, and seeing the national parks and sights throughout the West. Over the last ten years, we’ve added four wheeling adventures to our travels and have had the opportunity of enjoying remote places in Southern Utah and Southern Colorado. We had the “trip of a lifetime” in Mexico and Belize with Glen about a year after he returned from his mission. Every minute was an adventure! Yellowstone National Park, Teton National Park, and Zion’s National Park have been our favorite family vacations. It has been such a joy to hike and see all the majestic wildlife: deer, antelope, elk, eagles, otters, buffalo, grizzly and black bears, wolves, and big horn sheep in these parks.
In the Bountiful 39th Ward since 1975, I have served as a Sunday school teacher, ward mission leader, Stake Sunday school president, and high priest group leader. Since April 1998, I have served as a Bountiful Temple ordinance worker. Glenna has been such a faithful and spiritual daughter of our Heavenly Father teaching Sunday school classes and serving several positions in the Relief Society as well as Relief Society president (Granger and Bountiful 39th Ward). Oh, how the sisters loved her and her faithful, dedicated leadership. In November 2006, I was called to serve as a stake financial clerk in our stake presidency which I truly enjoy. The Lord has truly blessed me in my church callings with many spiritual experiences. Working in the Bountiful Temple as a temple ordinance worker has been the most incredible spiritual experience of my life. I have witnessed many miracles in the temple with temple patrons on a monthly basis. I have walked into the Celestial Room on a weekly basis to feel the spirit of the Lord in such great abundance. As I have witnessed faithful saints in the temple, tears have flowed freely and I have enjoyed their hugs. I know the Lord has even visited this sacred Celestial Room.
Glenna and I have had a great life together. However, on Mother’s Day 2006, Glenna was not feeling well so I took her to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. She had a shortness of breath and really felt miserable. Despite suffering a stroke, two doctors at LDS Hospital felt she was improving and let her come home after two weeks. Because she was still having a difficult time after being home for two weeks, I took her to Lakeview Hospital here in Bountiful. They immediately put her in intensive care; doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia. After one day, she stopped breathing on her own and doctors had to assist her breathing with life support. After one week, the doctors informed us they had done all they could do but still hadn’t discovered Glenna’s real problems. We then flew her in the life support helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital. After one week, the doctors finally informed us Glenna’s stomach and lungs were full of cancer. There was nothing they could do to help cure her of this terrible disease. On June 27th, we had to make the hardest decision we have ever made. We had to tell the doctors that morning to take Glenna off life support. My dear sweetheart took her last two breaths at 10:45 am and she slipped beyond the veil into the presence of our Heavenly Father. We held her funeral in the 39th Ward on July 3, 2006. There were so many dear relatives and friends who came to pay their respects to this elect lady. I am so thankful we had 49 years, eleven months, and two weeks together as sweethearts.
At 74, this event completely turned my life upside down. The lonely hours since her passing have caused the tears to flow almost every day. I love her and miss her so much. She gave me such wonderful children in Cindy, Glen, and Jonathan Paul. I believe Glenna’s unexpected death was probably the hardest event in Cindy and Glen’s life as well as my own. I am so thankful I have Cindy and Glen’s love and support which has helped me more than words can express to get through this great sadness in my life. The Zigich and Rust families as well as so many choice friends in the 39th ward have been such a blessing in my life. I am also thankful for my brothers and sisters (Dewaine, Cameron, Ferneth, and Rita) who along with our extended family have truly blessed my life and helped me to move on. Their love and support is priceless.
In the last year, our family was blessed with two weddings. My granddaughter Rachel married her best friend Scott Warner on May 7, 2010, and Glen married his true love Carol Weatherly on July 16, 2010. Scott, Carol, and her two daughters Lori and Anna are a wonderful addition to our family. Glen, Carol, Scott, and Rachel are such wonderful couples and are very much in love. These two weddings have blessed our family in many ways.
It is now August of 2011 and I am so grateful for all the tender mercies from the Lord. I love and feel even closer to my Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now as I depend on them even more since my sweetheart Glenna left me. My testimony is even stronger as the Holy Ghost has touched my heart so many times and testified unto me of these great eternal truths and doctrines we have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 4:15-16 which states, “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and profit of my children. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” I have seen and heard of miracles throughout my life and felt the Spirit of the Lord in helping me come unto Christ that I may truly become one of his disciples.
Life is fragile, and we never know for sure what plans the Lord has for us or how long we will live upon this earth. So believe me when I say, live every day of your life to the fullest, be happy, and work hard to be successful in your life. I have trusted in the Lord all my life, and I am so thankful for my dear family and the joy they have brought me in my life. I know the Lord is in charge, and I will do everything possible to live his teachings and keep his commandments to be worthy to lead my family in the eternities to come — that is the most important goal in my life.
Information for Steven Lavere Brown
Parents: Floyd Alonzo & Elmina Mortensen Brown
Birth: 8 June 1932
Place: Virden, New Mexico
Sealed: 16 July 1956
Place: Salt Lake City, Utah
Spouse: Glenna Wright
Birth: 22 April 1933
Place: Farmington, New Mexico
Died: 27 June 2006
Place: Bountiful, Utah
Buried: Bountiful, Utah
Parents: Julius Glen Wright & Elva Vivia Meredith
Children
Cindy Brown Van Pelt (12 May 1958 - present)
Steven Glen Brown (22 May 1961 - present)
Jonathan Paul Brown (11 June 1964 – 13 June 1964)
Birth: 8 June 1932
Place: Virden, New Mexico
Sealed: 16 July 1956
Place: Salt Lake City, Utah
Spouse: Glenna Wright
Birth: 22 April 1933
Place: Farmington, New Mexico
Died: 27 June 2006
Place: Bountiful, Utah
Buried: Bountiful, Utah
Parents: Julius Glen Wright & Elva Vivia Meredith
Children
Cindy Brown Van Pelt (12 May 1958 - present)
Steven Glen Brown (22 May 1961 - present)
Jonathan Paul Brown (11 June 1964 – 13 June 1964)