Woods Cross — Stephen C. Brown – “Mr. Real Estate” passed away surrounded by loving family July 28, 2026 after a short battle with cancer.

After hearing loving stories and goodbyes from his daughter, Stef, his two granddaughters, Amber and Kaestle, great granddaughter, Sienna, and caregiver, Angela. Papa Steve held on long enough for his oldest grandson, Chase, to arrive. Shortly after Chase arrived, he began talking about his new truck. Papa had a little smile on his face as he listened and passed away peacefully. Cars and grandkids were two of the most important things in his life. His son, Mike and grandson, Duke were out of town and unable to say goodbye in person. They were able to express their love over the phone.

Steve was born in Ogden, Utah on March 25, 1940. He was the oldest son of parents, Dot and Pete Brown. He had 4 siblings. Steve was very close to his sister, Bonnie; they spoke on the phone almost every night over the last few decades. Steve grew up on 30th Street living with his grandma and grandpa Brown in a small home. There was no heat in his bedroom, so his grandma would heat up a brick for him to have in his bed overnight.

Twice a day, he would ride his bike to his parents’ farm in West Haven to help with chores. He would tell stories about milking cows, tending to the other animals and all of the hard work he did there. Later, he tried to teach Stef how to milk a cow – it is not easy.

Steve attended Walquist Jr. High (where he was class president and has been the “pizza sponsor” of the annual class reunions since). He then went on to graduate from Weber High School where he performed in multiple plays and was considered a great dancer. His great grandfather, Captain James Brown was one of the original founders of Brownsville which later became Ogden, Utah.

Steve had many jobs over the course of his life. He began his working life as a paper boy, then became a farmhand driving combines and hay trucks. He worked for John Deere, then drove cattle trucks from Utah to California. Steve also worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a brakeman and continued driving semi-trucks on his days off.

From there, he joined Interiors Limited in Ogden, working as a salesman for furniture, televisions, and appliances. Following this, he worked as a regional salesperson for Curtis Mathes, quickly advancing to the district manager for the Western United States. He was offered a VP position but declined as it would require moving to Texas.

During this time, he opened and operated retail television stores, “House of CM” in Las Vegas and Boise. He was on the board of directors of Collett’s Furniture, founding partner in Action TV Rental, and a partner in ownership of The Warehouse restaurant in Ogden.

Real estate is where he really made his mark, joining Wardley Corporation in 1980. In his first month as an agent, he was named associate of the month by listing and closing a $1.2 million dollar property and having over $11 million in listings. Shortly after, he was named Vice President of Wardley’s Franchise Program.

In his forty-five year career he became one of the top grossing and most successful commercial real estate agents in the West. He was well known as “Mr. Real Estate” with TV commercials, billboards and print ads throughout Utah. He also had signs for his listings that were life-size full body cutouts of him that made it appear as if he was holding the sign. Steve used his limousine to take clients to showings and closings. He made so many amazing friends throughout his real estate career.

Papa Steve loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren more than anything in the world (with cars coming in as a close second). He and his first wife, Patsy Jane Duke, were parents of Mike Duke Brown and Stef Brown Charlesworth. Patsy and Steve were later divorced.

Steve later met his future partner, Marilyn Cooper. They spent their later years together golfing, spending time at Bearlake, RVing and wintering in Surprise Arizona. There was sheer joy on his face when spending time with his family.

He especially loved playing with his great grandkids. He would giggle and laugh and make them giggle and laugh as well. He was so grateful that he had wonderful times with all four of them. He always knew what everyone was up to and frequently pitched ideas of new businesses they should start with him – right up until the day before he passed. That most recent idea was to start a new type of car business with Chase where they would store luxury cars.

He was everyone’s biggest cheerleader and always made time for each of them. Not only did he want to know everything about his family, but when he went to restaurants (or anywhere where there were people), he would instantly begin conversations which would frequently lead to lasting friendships. Stef and Steve dined together a lot, and the servers/managers who knew him would often give him the “special table” or let him skip the long lines. He also enjoyed every opportunity he had to golf or get lunch with Mike.

He absolutely loved cars. According to Steve, he owned over 200 cars and trucks in his life. Keeping those cars as shiny and clean as possible was a must (and of course adding custom pinstriping).

Steve is survived by his children, Mike (Laurie) and Stef Brown Charlesworth, grandchildren Amber (Ryan), Chase (Brit), Kaestle (Zac), and Duke, and great grandchildren Sienna, Lex, Max, and Miller.

A special thank you to Steve’s amazing caregivers Angela (Utah) and Chris (Arizona) for their loving assistance over the last few years.

Steve’s celebration of life will be held at Schneiters Riverside Golf Course / Pavillion on Sunday, September 27th, 2026 from 1:00-3:00pm. 5460 South Weber Dr. Riverdale, Utah 84405. Please dress casually. We would love for you to share any of your favorite Steve stories there.

In lieu of flowers we encourage you to take some time to share life stories with your friends and loved ones.