Kenneth Urban Pierce

Kenneth Urban Pierce, 80, left this mortal existence on Saturday, March 2, 2024, due to complications resulting from cardiac arrest. All of his family rushed to be near him in his final hours as he returned to his heavenly home with his cherished wife by his side.

Ken was born July 21, 1943, to Lorraine Isabelle Johnson and Urban Middleton Pierce. He was raised in South Ogden, Utah as the oldest of four children and grew up active in sports and the Boy Scouts; he proudly achieved Eagle Scout rank and had a lifelong love of scouting. Ken never met a stranger and was a loyal friend to many. As a young man he excelled at wrestling where he lettered at Bonneville High School in 1961 as a member of the first graduating class. Ken graduated from Weber State College and later received his MBA from Utah State University.

While working for Boeing, Ken met and fell in love with Janice Jensen in 1962. After some charm, persistence, and with the help of his ‘63, split-window Corvette Stingray, she fell in love with him too. They were married and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 30, 1965. Together they raised their four children in Riverdale, Utah and later moved to Syracuse, Utah, sharing nearly 59 years of devotion to one another.

In 1964, Ken began his professional career at Hill Air Force Base in Clearfield, Utah. During his time there, he served as a contracting officer, doing top classified work his grandchildren hoped to learn about some day. He remained there until his retirement in 2006, after over 40 years of dedicated service.

Ken loved the outdoors. He enjoyed fishing, pheasant hunting, gardening, and was an avid runner. He found much joy and fulfillment in his countless long- distance training hours with thousands of miles logged. Ken completed over 50 marathons, including the Boston Marathon. He won many medals and was a member of the St. George 11-Year Club. He loved nothing more than encouraging his children and grandchildren to run with him and was often found hootin’ and hollerin’ for them on the sidelines at track meets and at the Utah Summer Games.

Ken had an unwavering love and testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Ken always encouraged his posterity to live a gospel-centered life and lead with his example. As a member of the Riverdale 2nd Ward, he faithfully served in many capacities, including Young Men’s and Boy Scout Leader and Bishop. He was a caring, kind, and gentle servant, taking care of ward members, and helping young men become Eagle Scouts with many High Adventure stories to tell.

 With his companion Janice, Ken cherished his callings as an inner-city service missionary and later as a proselyting missionary in the Utah Ogden Mission. They also loved dedicating their time to temple and family history work, serving as Directors of the Clearfield Family History Center. Ken’s enthusiastic service has no doubt blessed thousands on both sides of the veil.

Ken went about quietly doing good, loving, serving, giving, and sharing his smile, laughter, and garden vegetables with everyone. He dedicated his life to selflessly serving others with a special gift of making everyone feel like they were his favorite.

While Ken had many noteworthy achievements, awards, and accolades, they pale in comparison to his most important accomplishment–being a supportive and loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend. Ken’s family was his greatest joy. His love for Janice was evident as he cared for her daily in their later years. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were his greatest treasures, and he honored each one by celebrating them at every event imaginable. You could always count on his happy dance with his fingers bouncing in the air. He was the biggest cheerleader of them all!

Ken truly lived and loved as the Savior did. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. 

He is survived by his beautiful wife, Janice, daughter Michele (Justin) Smith, son Steven (Jamie), daughter Janene (Bill) Curtis, and daughter Cherie (Jeff) Mask, 19 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, sister Diane (Lee) Taylor, brothers Leon (Sandra), and Clair along with many dear friends. He was preceded in death by his loving parents.

Funeral services to celebrate his wonderful life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, 2024, at the Heritage Ward Chapel, 1475 W 700 S Clearfield, UT 84075. The family will meet with friends on Friday, March 8, 2024, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lindquist Syracuse Mortuary, 869 S 2000 W, and Saturday from 9:45 to 10:40 a.m. at the church.

Interment, Syracuse City Cemetery.

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