Elder Stephen Allen West, emeritus General Authority Seventy, died on March 10, 2016, at the age of 80. Elder West died in Salt Lake City, nearly six months after suffering a debilitating stroke.
Elder West served as a General Authority Seventy for six years in various assignments. He served as second counselor in the North America Southeast Area and North America Northwest Area, was a member of many Church committees and was assistant executive director of the Curriculum Department.
“Ever the optimist, he saw the best in people and could tell a good story,” it reads in his obituary. “His generosity of spirit and tolerance of mind were buttressed by a rock solid faith in the gospel.”
Elder West was born to Allan M. and Ferne Page West on March 23, 1935, in Salt Lake City. On March 21, 1960, Elder West married Martha Alice Sears West in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of three children.
Prior to his call as a Seventy as well as after he was released, Elder West served in many Church capacities. He served as a patriarch in the Logan Utah Mount Logan Stake, a sealer in the Washington, D.C. Temple, President of the Texas San Antonio Mission from 1995-1998, and as a young missionary in the Northwestern States Mission (which included Alaska at the time) from 1956-1958. He also served as a bishop, bishop’s counselor, high counselor, in a branch presidency, a ward mission leader and seminary teacher.
As a young man he worked for the U.S. Forest Service fighting forest fires. He later went on to earn a law degree from the University of Utah in 1961 and a bachelors degree in philosophy in 1962 — unlike most people, he completed his law degree before obtaining his undergraduate degree. After graduating from law school, Elder West worked as a law clerk in the federal district court of Judge A. Sherman Christensen and practiced law in Salt Lake City for a few years.
In 1967 he moved to Washington, D.C. to begin a long career with the Marriott Corporation in Bethesda, Maryland. At the time of his retirement in 1994 he was senior vice president and general counsel for the organization. In addition to his professional career, Elder West served on the advisory boards of Southern Virginia University and Utah State University, and served on the Leadership Council of the Brigham Young University Museum of Art.
Elder West is survived by his wife, three children and their spouses, and ten grandchildren.
Prior to being buried in the Logan City Cemetery, a funeral is scheduled for Saturday, March 19, at 11:00 a.m. at the Fourteenth Ward chapel (142 W 200 N) in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. A viewing will be held at Larkin Mortuary at 260 E. South Temple in Salt Lake City on Friday evening, March 18, from 6:00-8:00 p.m., or at the Fourteenth Ward on Saturday, March 19, from 9:30-10:30 am. Interment will take place at about 3:00 p.m. at the Logan City Cemetery, in Logan, Utah at 1000 N 1200 E.
