David James Hepworth

David James Hepworth was born on January 28, 1950, at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the first son of Donald and Virginia Hepworth, and the brother of Mary (Ken Hunt), Steven (Maggie), Alan, Brent, and Ann (Lee Johnson). After decades of pain and suffering, Dave spent a wonderful day with family and then passed away at home on June 2, 2025, at the age of 75.

Dave grew up in Bountiful, Utah until sixth grade when his family relocated to Palo Alto, California.

As a senior in high school, Dave got the lead in his school musical, Little Mary Sunshine. Unfortunately, Dave had a rebellious streak and pulled a legendary senior prank by stealing all the neighboring school signs and flooding the high school bathrooms. After the prank, Dave was kicked out of the play. The other actors revolted and refused to do the play without him. So once again, Dave was the star of the show, one of his most cherished memories.

Dave was a German-speaking missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Switzerland Zurich Mission. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a major in Biology and a double minor in Chemistry and German. At BYU, he met his wife, Julie Johnson, his lifelong companion and caregiver. On a whim, Dave took the LSAT with his friend and ended up attending Santa Clara Law School. Dave graduated with his Juris Doctor (J.D.), only to discover he really didn’t enjoy practicing law.

In 1982, Dave and Julie relocated back to Utah to raise their family. Dave’s greatest accomplishment in life was his five beautiful children: Kristin (Curt), Jody (Spencer), Nathan (Sarah), Jamie (Keith), and Natalie (RJ). But even more precious than his children were his grandchildren: Stef, Sage, Emma (Josh), Kyle (Kelsey), Jack, Ellie, Audrey, Clara, Tyson, Leo, Sammy, Calvin, Nomi, Kingston, and Addy.

Dave had an appreciation for the odd and eclectic. He collected more items than you could imagine - you could say he collected collections. He loved garage sales, and he loved getting a good deal, almost as much as he loved a fishing trip in the high Uintas. He had a near perfect photographic memory, and was the type of individual who read the dictionary for fun, although he admitted that he only made it to the letter “I”. He loved words and often corrected people’s grammar, whether he knew them or not. Dave was known for his epic vegetable garden. He grew the sweetest corn in all of Utah. He loved to take things apart, but more importantly, he loved fixing them. Dave always insisted he was careful with his words. Despite this insistence, Dave had no filter and had a bad habit of speaking his mind. If you met him, he probably offended you. He was quick to laugh and always had a story to share.

Despite all of his suffering, Dave was a man of faith and read the Book of Mormon every single day. He would want his family to know that he was always a believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in his Savior Jesus Christ. He never doubted.

The family would like to thank his hospice team (Ben, Eliza, and Sheila) for their compassionate service and all the many doctors who have treated Dave throughout the years.

A private family memorial will be held to celebrate his life. Dave didn’t want a funeral, a service, or even an obituary, but in honor of his rebellious spirit, we decided to ignore those wishes by sharing a glimpse of him with the world.