Stephen William Walker

Stephen William Walker was born in Billings, Montana to goodly parents, Stephen Emerson Walker and Agnes Jenette Clawson Walker. His birth was followed 18 months later by that of a younger brother, James Robert Walker.

Stephen spent his formative years living on the Crow Indian Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, where his parents leased ranching property. Steve learned to speak Crow from friends, neighbors and from his mother, who became fluent in Crow while growing up in Rockvale, Montana. Most of his childhood friends were Crow Indian kids, but typically, when they played ‘cowboys and Indians’, Steve was the Indian and his Crow friends were the cowboys.

He graduated from Lodge Grass High School, attended college, then joined the Army as a communications specialist, spending most of his three-year tour at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. He married Roxanna Butler in 1957 and they became the parents of seven children. On April 30, 1976, he married Janis Polanich in the Salt Lake Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they were blessed with five children.

Steve had a wide and varied range of interests, holding many different jobs throughout his life, both in the United States and internationally. Most especially, he made close, life-long friends while working in Armenia and grew to love that country and its people.

The centerpiece of his life, however, was his faith in Jesus Christ and his work to unite generations of his ancestors through genealogy and Temple work. Though he had many Church callings, including in the West Central States Mission presidency, as a Seventy and a Stake High Councilor, the most meaningful to him came in 2015, when he served as a missionary at the Family and Church History Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. He taught the FamilySearch program to leaders of local family history centers throughout the southwestern US, then was assigned as a resolution specialist to handle difficult data problems.

Steve loved people and made friends wherever he went. Anyone who knew him will remember how he also loved to tell endless stories (and repeats of stories) of his experiences in life. You could gauge how close a friend he felt you were by how many times he told you the same story.

He was predeceased by his beloved parents, his brother and his sons, James, Daniel and Matthew. He is survived by those he cherished, his wife, Jan, and nine of his children; Stephen H. (Kathleen), Carol L. Crisp (Larry), Wayne R. (Siriphon), Elizabeth E. Hart (Clark), Mark W., Robert J. (Lani), Jenny L. Durda (Andrew), David C. (Amber), Scott T. (Angie), his 21 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren.

The viewing will be at 9:00 AM with a service at 10:30 AM on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the Laveen Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 4125 W Baseline Road, Laveen, AZ 85339. Graveside services will be at 2:00 PM on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at Lakeview Cemetery, 1640 Lakeview Drive, Bountiful, Utah 84010. In lieu of flowers, the family’s wish is that individuals log on to or create an account at FamilySearch.org and leave a memory of Steve (record number LX4V-9LG).