Steve Densley leaves legacy of devotion to the residents of Utah Valley
Steve Densley with associates Bill Fillmore and former Sen. Orrin Hatch.
This photo shows Steve Densley as he prepared to serve and LDS mission in the Eastern Atlantic States Mission.
Engagement photo of Colleen Taylor and Steve Densley.
Steve Densley with his friends Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn, left, and Provo Mayor Lewis Billings, right.
Steve and Colleen Densley in one of their formal photos they have taken throughout the years.
Steve Densley at age 2, riding a hobby horse.
Steve Densley and Richard Eyre are pictured during their campaign for lieutenant governor and governor.
Still a kid, Steve Densley takes his turn at riding a hobby horse as an adult.
Steve Densley is pictured with his friend, then-Gov. Gary Herbert. The two men knew each other since playing sports against each other in high school. They even went to the same LDS Mission.
Steve Densley holding two of his grandkids during Halloween. Densley loved children and they loved him back.
Steve Densley in the later part of his life.
Steve Densley and his friend Stephen R. Covey. Covey felt Densley was a one-of-a-kind man and praised him often.
Steve Densley is pictured on signing day to play football for Brigham Young University. He is surrounded by his parents and coaches Tommy Hudspeth and LaVell Edwards.
Steve and Colleen Densley in one of their many couple photos taken over the years.
Steve and Colleen Densley on their wedding day. The couple met, fell in love and were married in just six week.
His cheery disposition, bright eyes and smile, coupled with his stature and pure white hair, seems a description of the perfect Santa Claus. His family even called him “The Big Elf.”
In many ways, Steve Densley, like Santa, gave numerous gifts in service and devotion to his community, both to adults and children, year after year after year.
Steven Thomas Densley, 74, died July 24 from complications of diabetes. His passing has garnered sweet memories and numerous condolences from friends and associates throughout the world.
He was born Feb. 21, 1947, in Murray. His young days found him building his strength in a variety of sports including football, basketball and baseball.
He attended Jordan High School where he served as sophomore, and senior class president and was named a High School All-American in both basketball and football and All-State in baseball.
He was given the Outstanding Athlete and Scholar Award, was selected to attend the Utah Freedom Academy, as well as Boys Nation, in Washington, D.C., and was later given the Jordan High School 2012 Honorary Alumni Award.
One of his dearest and longtime friends, former Gov. Gary Herbert, remembers competing against Densley in high school sports. Herbert attended Orem High School.
“He was a tremendous athlete and just a good guy,” Herbert said.
Densley starred on the 1965 undefeated BYU freshman football team, setting a freshman running record, and was referred to by then-defensive coach LaVell Edwards as the most recruited athlete in BYU history at that time.
Densley left the football team to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Eastern Atlantic States Mission.
It is something he always wanted to do. He would find out that he gave up one love to serve another.
About six months after Densley, Herbert was called to the same mission.
“He was not only an example in sports, but he was an example to our mission,” Herbert said.
Densley served as an assistant to the mission president for seven months of his mission.
When he returned home, he thought he would be playing football but was basically redshirted.
Bruce Densley, Steve’s nephew tells it this way:
“The coach (Tom Hudspeth) was upset he served an LDS mission and refused to play him when he returned. The assistant coach LaVell Edwards told Steve, ‘I could play you at any position on the field except maybe quarterback and you would do as well or better than anyone we have, but the coach refuses to play you as an example to the team. My recommendation is to get your education.'”
According to Steve Densley III, that counsel changed his father’s life — and most likely for the better.
Steve did just what Edwards told him to do. Having served a portion of his mission in Washington, D.C., he developed an interest in politics and majored in sociology. Later in life, Densley ran for U.S. Congress twice unsuccessfully but always loved the political game, according to Bruce Densley.
Steve Densley also ran for lieutenant governor, partnering with Richard Eyre who was seeking the governor’s seat.
Densley finished his bachelor’s degree in three years. While he was studying, he met Colleen Taylor. For Steve, it was a love-at-first-sight story, but it didn’t take Colleen very long to come around. They married six weeks later in the Logan LDS Temple on July 23, 1968.
The Densleys celebrated their 53 wedding anniversary the day before Steve died. Colleen has been by his side in sickness and in health, always loving him.
“After he went into the hospital, when people came into the room, no matter how he was feeling, he lit up,” Colleen Densley said. “He loved people and wanted to connect with them and wanted to know how they were doing.”
“People left thinking he was doing well and would comment on how he ‘looks great.’ But they had no idea how badly his health had deteriorated. He wanted to cheer them up, and being given the chance to do so cheered him up as well. Because that’s what he loved,” Colleen added.
After graduating from BYU, Steve and Colleen moved to Chicago for a year but decided to come home to Utah.
Densley bought a company known as Intermountain West and later changed the name to Kodiak Inc. He expanded the company to six locations and sold the entire group in 1982.
It was about this time he became the president of the Orem Chamber of Commerce. Duane Herbert, Gary Herbert’s father, was chairman of the board.
The two men put their heads together and realized that combining the Provo and Orem Chambers would be a good fit for the businesses in the area and would provide for a big business region.
“Dad and Steve changed the culture of business and it became one big business region in Utah, which lead to it becoming the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce,” Gary Herbert said.
Densley’s influence in the business world went beyond the Utah County borders.
Densley was elected two times as State Chamber President and served on the State Chamber’s Board of Directors for over 15 years.
Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, heard of Densley’s passing and send out this statement:
“I received the news of Steve’s passing with sadness this week as he was a friend and consummate example of serving others. While serving in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, I had many opportunities to work with Steve as he led the Utah Valley Chamber.
“Steve was active with the Utah Association of Chambers, and several years ago, the Steve Densley Institute Scholarship was created to provide professional development opportunities to other chamber executives. He mentored many Chamber executives and built up Chamber of Commerce influence across the state.
“Steve was one of a kind and gave so much to Utah County. His life and legacy were community building and economic prosperity. The state has lost a dear friend in Steve, and we send our condolences to his family at this time. Though we are sad at his passing, we know his contributions will ring throughout the valley and beyond as builders today stand on the shoulders of his many accomplishments.”
Provo Municipal Councilmember Bill Fillmore called Densley “remarkable.”
“He is a remarkable man, who, though quite busy with his many professional responsibilities, nonetheless takes the time to engage in community service on a broad front — not because he has to, and not because it supplies any economic benefit to him, but simply because that is who he is,” Fillmore said.
“Steve embodies a service ethic like no one else I know, and he does it because he enjoys it,” Fillmore added.
While Densley was busy building up the business community, he was also building business for the Daily Herald. Densely wrote a weekly column on a variety of issues that ran every Sunday in the paper — for 30 years.
Of his writing, this is what his friend and best-selling author Stephen Covey once said of him:
“For the past several years Steve has written … articles on a volunteer basis for the Daily Herald, covering almost every subject under heaven. So many people have benefited from these articles, collected them, put them in binders, and taught them to their families and friends and business associates. He constantly teaches universal, timeless principles to a world which is in many respects decaying.”
“We have admired his courage and determination to share these priceless principles, which really have their ultimate source in God and the Gospel,” Covey added.
Covey served with Densley in Rotary and noted that his bright light of graciousness, caring, integrity and dynamic energy had Covey calling him “one proactive soul.”
With all these accolades of his hours of service, being on more than 50 boards and committees, receiving awards and developing awards, Densley still had time for his family.
He and his wife Colleen have traveled to 50 different countries; they saw the world together. Steve kept photos and journals of each one of those trips.
His last column ran Sept. 24, 2017, in the Daily Herald.
In that column, you find the richness of his devotion and the love for the people of Utah Valley.
“The columns I have written have been based on a foundation of the wisdom I have enjoyed by reading much of the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I visited his home some years ago and fell in love with much of what he had to say about the world around him,” Densley wrote. “I have kept the quote from him firmly in hand over the years called, ‘To Succeed.’ It goes as follows:
“‘To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children … to leave the world a better place … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded,'” Densley shared.
He went on to say, “I have loved having people come up to me almost daily and talk about how they have felt about the articles I have written. It has made me a better person for them having shared their ideas and given me the chance to make new friends. As they say, ‘There are no strangers in this world, only friends you haven’t met yet.’ May our valley and state continue to get better. Thanks for your kindness, letters, calls, e-mails and all the memories!”
The valley and its residents can now say the same: Thanks for your kindness, letters, calls and emails. But most of all, Steve, thanks for the memories.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at the Oak Hills 5th Ward Hillside Chapel, at 1960 N. 1500 East, Provo. The viewing will be held on Friday, Aug. 6, from 6-8 p.m. and on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the same location, prior to the services. Interment will be in the American Fork Cemetery.