Steve Jay Wilcox August 8, 1941 ~ December 21, 2024

Steve Jay Wilcox was born August 8, 1941 and passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on December 21, 2024.
A farmer at heart, he was raised on a farm in Heyburn, ID. His parents were LaVaur Hanks Wilcox and Laura Mae Baird.
He has six siblings: Melvin, Virginia, Keith, Katherine, Ron, and Jerry. He graduated from Minidoka High School in 1959 and worked there at the potato plant. Later he and worked for Hercules Powder Co. in Salt Lake City. In 1963, he was called to serve in the Bavarian mission in Germany for 2.5 years.
Upon his return, he enrolled at Brigham Young University in 1965 working for $1 an hour in the field house! It was there he met Janet Keeler, his future wife.
They were married on December 22, 1967 in the Idaho Falls Temple. He graduated in 1969 with a degree in social work. He worked at Mountain States Steel for several years before a job opened in Blanding, UT where he was a social worker for 30 years. After retiring, he bravely did substitute teaching! Most memorable were high school band and kindergarten students.
In 2002, he was called as bishop of the Blanding Fourth Ward where he regularly visited over a dozen elderly widows, kept youth groups on target, and spent hours counseling people.
Following his release in 2007, he and Janet were called as missionaries serving in Ganado, AZ. They have continued to stay in touch with those wonderful friends, and often had Navajo students live with them while they were attending college.
They also ran an addiction recovery program and worked with Young Single Adults where they did a lot of match-making!
Steve was called as an ordinance worker in 2009 in the Monticello Temple. Later they organized and taught the first Pathway class in Blanding, where they helped many students complete degrees and secure valuable jobs.
They were blessed with eight wonderful children: Aaron (deceased), Robert (Kathryn Redd) of Blanding with children Ethan and Ryan; Nathan (Tamara Bowden) of Tooele, UT with children Laurie, Brenden, and Bella; Chris (Pam Tripp) of Provo, UT with children CJ, Michael, Kylee, Hailey, Daniel, Adam, Natalie, Emily and Lily; Quentin (Beverly Shumway) of Gilbert, AZ with children Quincy, Sage, Ava, Brig, and Jens; Anthony (Ashley Farnsworth) of Altamont, UT with children Sam, Logan, Lawsyn, Hanks, and Emma; Autumn (Theron Jeppson) of West Valley with children Hunter, Peyton, Hinckley, Heber; and Andrew (Amy Roberts) of Syracuse with children Madison, Jaxson, Gannon.
They faced many challenges during their marriage: a house fire, death of their oldest son, and Steve’s battles with Covid and other health issues.
They were also blessed with many wonderful adventures: trips to Alaska, France, Hawaii, Wales and the Yucatan, which they visited multiple times.
Both Wilcox and Keeler family reunions were made memorable by Steve’s creative “treasure hunts.” He also orchestrated similar events for family Christmas activities, cub scouts and even for their home group. His clever clues and humor as well as prizes made those events fun yet challenging.
His family will remember always the huge gardens they raised: picking and canning beans and fruit, digging potatoes, and of course snowball and tomato fights.
Steve was a very creative builder making every space efficient and convenient whether in the closet, cupboard, or bedrooms.
His strongest qualities however, were his love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his family. He was unwavering in his faith and actions as he served others in multiple ways: home teaching, calling and writing family members, sending birthday cards and helping Janet with housework.
Their favorite end of the day activities included watching America Says and Jeopardy, and sharing three blessings happening that day.