Steven Wynn Hansen

Our beloved husband, dad, and grandpa, Steven Wynn Hansen, passed away at the age of 82 on November 30, 2025, surrounded by his wife and children in his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was born April 8,1943 to Thelma June Edgington and Noel Jorgen Hansen.

Steve was the middle of three children. He grew up first in Idaho Falls, then his family moved to Salt Lake City when he was seven. By the time he was 13, he was already six feet tall and naturally loved playing basketball. After graduating from South High in 1961, he tried out for the University of Utah men’s basketball team, where he had “the tryout of his life and just couldn’t miss!”. He made the team but was cut after a couple of months because his post-playing skills weren’t transferring quickly enough for his new position as guard. He later went on to graduate from the U of U in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance.

As a junior in high school, Steve began working for the Union Pacific Railroad where he would later receive full tuition reimbursement for college. It was also in high school that Steve was diagnosed with Alopecia Totalis, an autoimmune disease that causes instant and dramatic hair loss. He later admitted that this was probably the hardest experience he went through in his life. He was teased a lot and his confidence was so low that he chose not to have his senior year photo put in the yearbook. Miraculously, his hair grew back just as he was getting ready to serve his mission to New Zealand for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he didn’t experience any hair loss during those two years in the mission field.

After his mission, and while still enrolled at the U, Steve joined the Salt Lake Symphonic Choir as a bass singer and met Colleen Strand who won him over with her beautiful second-soprano voice. They were married on September 20, 1974, and were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they have five children.

Figuring out life with five kids wasn’t always easy for Steve and Colleen. When times were slow with his real estate appraising business, Steve found other ways to contribute, like buying an extremely large white van to use as his new airport shuttle company (or for four-wheeling with the family in Southern Utah). His love for airplanes and traveling increased when Colleen started working for Delta Airlines. He embraced the benefits of flying standby and would fly anywhere at any time, even sleeping in airports or being left behind if it meant getting his kids to a destination they needed to go to. Steve also had a fascination with old cars, whether it was building models or trying to buy them in real life. He especially loved his shiny red 1967 Ford Mustang.

Steve instilled his love for basketball in his kids through consistently volunteering as our Jr Jazz coach and reminding us to “aim for the square!” He never missed our sporting events, including track and football, and truly was our number one fan. Becoming a grandpa brought even more sweetness to his life (which he desperately needed to balance out his obsession with table salt).

In his retirement years, Steve stayed busy by working various part-time jobs—driving rental vehicles for Enterprise and ushering at Utah Jazz and Salt Lake Bees games. He was passionate about the restoration of the gospel and could always be found reading books about it. Steve enjoyed serving a second mission for the Church at LDS Employment Services. He credits the strength of his testimony to his study of the history of Christianity—”It just makes so much sense.”

His appreciation for music—particularly acapella, piano, West Side Story, and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square—has become a shortcut we’ve found to feel closer to him. His fierce love and pride in everything that any of his kids or grandkids have done in life gave him a serious weakness for bragging. Even though it made Mom squirm, we think his unique talent of talking to and befriending any stranger from any part of the world who crossed his path has shaped and inspired us in more ways than he’ll ever know. He had a missionary heart and genuinely enjoyed learning about Heavenly Father’s other children.

Steve will be deeply missed and most remembered for his goofy comments and outlandish ideas, his love for backscratches and his passion for sports, his incessant need to remind us to be careful, and his high standard for crispy (aka charred) bacon, no exceptions. The aroma of his slightly burnt peanut butter on toast with a side of chocolate Nesquik will live on in our nostrils anytime we tune in for the local nightly news…followed by Seinfeld, of course. We love you, Dad!

Steve is survived by his wife of 51 years (Colleen Hansen), 5 children: Stefanie (Corbin) Talley, Kyle (Adrienne) Hansen, Brooke (Ryan) Rutledge, Preston (Linden) Hansen, Amanda (Matt) Sanchez, 14 grandchildren, and many dear nieces and nephews in Texas and Utah. He is preceded in death by his parents (Noel and Thelma) and two siblings (Jacquie and Wayne).

Viewings will be held on Sunday, December 7, 2025, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and Monday, December 8, 2025, from 9:30 to 10:30 am, followed by private family prayer. The funeral service and interment will be held on Monday, December 8, and will begin promptly at 11:00 am.

All services will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building located at 3051 S 2900 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84109. The funeral will be available to livestream at the following link:

https://zoom.us/j/98897996417?pwd=AoLo7e1SbQ5W0N44XAn0wxACY6bLze.1

Meeting ID: 988 9799 6417
Passcode: steve