Steven L. Brown

Steven Lavere Brown was born June 8, 1932 in Virden, New Mexico to Floyd Alonzo Brown and Elmina Mortensen. Steven is the fourth child of eight children; his siblings are Ileane, Dewitt, Dewaine, Cameron, Colleen, Ferneth, and Rita.

The family lived and farmed in Virden, New Mexico and Kirtland, New Mexico. The family lost Ileane and Dewitt at a very young age and then his mother in 1946 and his father in 1948. This left the remaining six children motherless and fatherless which caused each to live with aunts and uncles.

Steven continued to attend high school in Virden, New Mexico and excelled academically. He was chosen Salutatorian of his high school upon graduation. Afterwards, he left Virden and moved to Safford, Arizona to attend Gila Junior College where he received his Associates Degree in 1953. He then chose to serve a 2-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Western States Mission.

While serving his mission he became acquainted with the Mission Primary President Elva Wright. Sister Wright was anxious for her daughter Glenna Wright, who was living in Salt Lake at the time, to meet 'Elder' Brown when he completed his mission. When his mission was over, he did drive to Salt Lake to meet the beautiful Glenna Wright and to become acquainted with her.

The courtship was put on hold when Steven was drafted into the Army in 1955. He would attend boot camp at Fort Ord, California; after which he was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington where he would serve as a chaplain assistant. As letters and phone calls continued between Steven and Glenna, they became more and more serious about marriage. He was then assigned to Anchorage, Alaska and while transitioning, he had 2 weeks of leave where he made a trip to Salt Lake to ask for Glenna's hand in marriage. During this 2 weeks, they were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on July 16, 1956. Their honeymoon consisted of a road trip to Yellowstone and the beautiful Grand Tetons. Steven was stationed at Anchorage, Alaska for 14 months with his new bride. In leaving Alaska, they packed up their 2-door Chevy and headed to the lower-48 on the Alaskan Highway where they prayed that they would make it back to Salt Lake safely.

When arriving in Utah, Steven applied to Brigham Young University in Provo where he began his studies in Business Management. During this time, Steve and Glenna's first child, a daughter, Cindy, was born on May 12, 1958. Steve graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in 1959 and started working for J.C. Penney. In 1961 Steve and Glenna were blessed with the birth of their son, Steven Glen Brown. At the ripe 'old' age of 30, Steven was ordained a Bishop where he served the people of the Provo 8th Ward.

In 1964, Steve and Glenna would be blessed with another son named Jonathan Paul Brown who would live for only 24 hours due to a heart defect.

The family moved to Salt Lake in 1965 with a job opportunity with J.C. Penney. In 1973, the family would move to Denver, Colorado so that Steve could take advantage of an opportunity to work for Fashion Fabrics as a regional manager. His service in the LDS church would give him the opportunity to be a Bishop again with the Denver 16th Ward. The family would remain in Denver for the next 2 1/2years where they would again return to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Steve would continue to work in management until his retirement in 1997. At this time, Steve had a great desire to serve in the Bountiful Temple and serve a mission on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

In 2006, Steve would lose his beloved eternal companion Glenna due to cancer. He kept himself busy by continuing to serve in his callings and as a temple worker. After 9 years of being alone, he was able to make a connection with a former friend and ward member of the Denver 16th ward – Donna Johnson. They would begin courting long distance through letters, phone calls and then personal visits. On November 22, 2014 they would be married for time in the Denver LDS temple. One of Steve and Donna's greatest loves was serving in the temple and now they would have the opportunity to serve together in the Denver Temple. They each continued serving in the temple as a couple until 1 month before Steve passed away.

Steve was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer not long after they were married, and he soon began treatment with amazing doctors. In 2019, Steve decided that he had had enough cancer treatment and chose to initiate hospice care. We said goodbye to our loving, devoted husband, father, and brother on April 2, 2019.


To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please click on the "Share Memories" button above.