Susan Claudia Enslow Stevenson
Susan Claudia Enslow Stevenson, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend – perhaps one of the noblest people to walk this earth – passed peacefully into the arms of her eternal Heavenly Father attended by her husband, Douglass E. Stevenson at 4:17 am on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at her home in Payson, Utah.
Susan was born on October 10, 1947, at Saint Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco, California to Catherine May Walker and Lawrence Claude Enslow.
Susan had a vivid memory of her early childhood in San Francisco and times she spent with her grandparents, Frank and Bessy Walker. She recalls their townhouse in San Francisco and their garden. She often tells of her grandmother’s cooking and her flower arrangements made from the flowers in her garden. She recalls her grandfather and his many home projects derived from lifetime work with Pacific Gas and Electric. She recalls spending many holidays at her grandparents’ home surrounded by family members.
In 1952, Susan moved with her parents to San Mateo, California where she started kindergarten at Baywood Elementary. After 5th grade, she then went to Borel Jr. High School from 6th to 8th grade. After that she went to Aragon High School from 9th to 12th grade and graduated with the Class of 1966. She liked Aragon High School, which was brand new and opened for her 9th grade year.
Susan recalls that when she was seven years old, one of the most significant days in her life occurred when two LDS sister missionaries called at her house. Susan recalls that it was like a great warm light suddenly filled her world. She also remembers how disappointed she was when her mother and older sisters and brother were baptized and she was not because she was too young. She had to wait until she was twelve years old.
After she turned twelve, Susan began to seek a spiritual connection. She attended several congregationalist churches in San Mateo. However, she never felt as welcome as she did in her mother’s LDS congregation. Her father, who was hostile to all organized religion, reluctantly gave her permission to be baptized with the statement, “Go ahead if you want to ruin your life.”
Susan only heard the “Go ahead” part and was overjoyed. She was baptized in 1959. From that year on, her life revolved around her Church activities. Since then, she has busied herself with callings in Primary, Relief Society, Young Women, and Sunday School.
By the time Susan was in 7th grade she had already grown to her adult height, and she often tended her younger brother John and sister Nancy. That may have been at least part of the reason she received a call to help teach a Primary class. It was the first of more than 38 years of callings in the Church.
When Susan started high school at Aragon High in San Mateo, she also signed up for early morning Seminary. She completed four years in Seminary and received her graduation pin with the 4-year guard on a chain. That was somewhat uncommon in 1966 when many LDS Seminary programs in states with 3-year high schools and no early morning Seminary only awarded a 3-year pin.
At Aragon High School, Susan excelled in athletics. Because of her size and athletic ability, she made the Aragon Dons Varsity Girls badminton, softball and tennis teams in 9th and 10th grade. She made the Varsity Girls Volleyball and Varsity Softball team in all her last three years. They won many games in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL), one of 140 high schools in the Central Coast Section (CCS) of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern Region. Susan earned Varsity letters in all her four years in high school.
Susan also participated in the Medical Professions Club and the Latin Club, and excelled in both Concert and A Capella Choirs, participating in choral festivals and competitions coordinated by the California Music Educators Association (CMEA). They did so well that a record company in San Francisco pressed a record album of the songs they performed at a CMEA choral festival.
Susan graduated from Aragon High School with the Class of 1966. She had achieved a great deal with her athletic teams, choirs, and club activities. Her father had abandoned the family several years earlier, and her mother had developed a short-term health problem. So, Susan helped with her 9-year-old sister and 7-year-old brother. She also went to work immediately in a San Francisco photo processing laboratory printing photos from roll film.
Things were somewhat hectic for the next year moving with her mother. All the while, Susan worked and helped with the family. In 1967, when her mother’s divorce was final, she moved with her mother and siblings to Provo, Utah.
After settling down in Utah, Susan got a job at Bayly’s Manufacturing Corp., which had a clothing and sportswear factory nearby Pleasant Grove. She operated a steam press for pressing pants and other garments while simultaneously inspecting them. Susan’s excellent hand–eye coordination made her fast and good at her job.
Susan bought a little Nash Rambler to commute from Provo to her work in Pleasant Grove. She liked her Rambler because it was her own little car, which she drove wherever she wanted to go.
Susan often recalls eating at the Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove, which was not far from the Bayly’s factory. She says that it was a welcome break from breathing the formaldehyde in the steam from the garment press.
Susan’s faith was the foundation of her life. Like her mother, she cherished her membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served faithfully in several Primary callings. And in 1969, about six months after her twenty-first birthday, Susan decided to take a break from worldly concerns and give her life to the Lord on a full-time proselytizing mission.
In the spring of 1969, Susan received a mission call from LDS Church President David O. McKay to the Chilean Mission. She entered the Salt Lake City Mission Home in the late spring. While there she received her personal endowment in the Salt Lake Temple and was set apart as a missionary by Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Quorum of the Twelve.
From the Salt Lake Mission Home, Susan was assigned to the Language Training Mission (LTM) in Provo Utah. There she spent two months of intensive instruction in the Spanish language, memorization of the missionary lessons and in the customs and religions of the people of Chile.
Susan departed for Chile in July to serve the remainder of her 24-month full time mission. Her mission president was J. Donal Earl, who assigned her to areas in the cities of Limache, Osorono, Puente Alto, Curicó and Talca.
Susan experienced many successes on her mission despite the chaos and upheaval of Chile’s brief experiment with communism. In March 1971, President Earl informed Susan that the Church policy had changed the duration of missions for women from two years to 18 months.
Nevertheless, Susan elected to finish out her 24-month mission. Susan returned home in July 1971, two years from the time she left on her mission. The seeds of truth she planted have grown and will continue to grow in hearts she touched.
Once again at home in Provo, Susan went back to work at Bayly’s but soon enrolled at BYU to get credit for her ability in Spanish. Next, she attended Hollywood Beauty College in Provo on a scholarship, graduating as valedictorian of her class.
Susan met her eternal companion, Douglass Edward Stvenson, on October 26, 1972. Her friend and classmate, Cheri Barnett, took her to a Halloween party for Nebo Stake M Men and Gleaners in Payson. Cheri, an inveterate romantic matchmaker, had been trying for two months to get Susan and Doug together, but neither responded right away. Eventually Susan gave in and went with Cheri to prepare a “spook alley” in an abandoned house near Payson.
Even after the Halloween party, Cheri had to arrange double dates with Susan and Doug from Thanksgiving through the Christmas Holidays. Eventually Susan and Doug became friends and started dating without help from Cheri and her boyfriends. Most dates centered around Church activities in both of their wards and stakes.
Since both were endowed, many dates included Temple sessions at the Provo Temple with Susan’s Single Adult ward’s Temple Night or weekly meetings with the Nebo Stake M Men and Gleaners. Friendship eventually turned to romance, and a temple courtship began. During a temple date on December 18, 1973, Doug gave Susan a diamond engagement ring in the Celestial Room of the Provo Temple. Everyone present that evening gave Susan exuberant congratulations. Doug and Susan were married in the Provo Temple four months later on April 27, 1974.
Susan’s life revolved around her family, Church callings, and occupational responsibilities. Susan is survived by her husband Doug and her four daughters Cynthia Marie Stevenson, Provo, Utah; Linda Sue Stevenson, American Fork, Utah; Jane Amanda Lavea (J.R.), Spanish Fork, Utah; and Katheryn Claudia Gipson (Josh), Bryan, Texas. She also is the grandmother of 6 grandchildren. She celebrated her golden wedding anniversary on April 27, 2024.
In 1973, before her marriage, Susan passed her state board exam and received a license as a cosmetologist, a profession she practiced for the next 15 years. In 1988, after moving to Texas, Susan changed her profession to education, where she worked as an Instructional Media Specialist for the College Station Independent School District. She retired in 2006 and moved back to her home in Payson.
In the Church, Susan served in the Primary in various wards and stakes for more than 38 years. She held positions such as President, Counselor, and a teacher of Primary children and of adult Primary teachers in the Payson Third LDS Ward of the Payson Utah Stake and as Primary President in the Fort Stockton LDS Branch of the Odessa Texas Stake. In the College Station Texas Stake, she was called as a Counselor to the stake Primary President. She also served with her husband as a Stake Missionary in the Bryan Texas Third LDS Branch (Spanish-speaking) in Bryan, Texas.
She also served in the Relief Society and Young Women organizations in the Payson Third LDS Ward of the Nebo and subsequent Payson Utah Stake. In her senior years, Susan was called first as ward Librarian in the Payson 11th LDS Ward and later as Stake Librarian in the Payson Utah West Stake. She enjoyed serving in whatever position to which she was called.
Susan will always be remembered for her loving personality, her tireless energy in work, and church calling. She delighted in her grandchildren during the time of her retirement. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who knew and loved her.
A viewing will be held on Friday, February 27, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Walker Funeral Home, 587 South 100 West, Payson, Utah. Another viewing will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. followed by the funeral service at 11:00 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at the Payson West Stake Center, 780 West 500 South, Payson, Utah. The grave dedication and interment will follow at the Salt Lake City Cemetery, 200 “N” Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. Arrangements are entrusted to Walker Funeral Home. To offer condolences please visit www.WalkerMemorials.com.
