Leon Harding

Watch Live-Stream of the Funeral Service HERE.

Leon Harding, age 81, returned to his loving Heavenly Father on February 24, 2025, at his home in Mount Emmons, Utah, surrounded by the peace of the life he built there. 

 Born June 6, 1943, in St. Helens, Oregon, Leon was the fourth child of Arthur Alfred and Margaret Good Harding. His family later moved to Portland, Oregon, where he learned the value of hard work early on—delivering ice on the family truck, tossing papers on his route, and picking Oregon blueberries for free swims at the local pool. There, he became a champion swimmer, even qualifying for the Olympic trials, a dream cut short by a hunting accident at age fourteen.

 Leon’s adventurous spirit led him to the Talmage, Utah, area where his sister Charlotte lived. Along the way, he fought Idaho wildfires, turning even that journey into a story worth telling. Settling in Talmage, he worked on a dairy farm, making early lifetime friends with his sense of humor, and his easy charm. He soon met the love of his life, Dixie Lee McConkie. They married on June 13, 1964, at her childhood home in Mount Emmons, a union later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She died March 9, 2020.

 Leon’s hands were rarely still. He worked cattle, and devoted many years to the McConkie family ranch He was a heavy equipment operator on the Big Sandwash project, and moved into the oil field as a truck driver, then into construction, working on big projects like Legacy Highway, Wolfcreek Pass , Snowbasin for the 2002 Olympic Winter games, Sandwash, eventually retiring from W.W. Clyde. A great mechanic with an unmatched knack for fixing and creating, he was at his happiest creating ingenious tools—rock saws, wood saws, log splitters—from scraps and leftovers, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. He loved fishing and hunting, especially in the mountains with family during hunting season, and he’d light up at the thrill of a good car race around with anyone who was willing to race. Still, nothing surpassed his devotion to those he held dear.

 Leon’s great love, wisdom, and divine spirit reached everyone he met, and was offered without limit. A man of deep faith, he held a strong testimony of the gospel and an abiding love for Jesus Christ. His absence leaves an ache in many hearts, but his warmth, kindness, and the memories he gave us will live on in all he touched.

 Leon leaves behind his children, Dixon (Jeanie) Harding; Terry (Michele) Harding; Kamee (Robert) Latham; grandchildren, Chyann Harding, Jessica Harding, Jed Harding, and Kilee Morris; sister, Valerie Hartgrave; brother, David Harding; and a host of cherished nieces and nephews.

 He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Dixie; parents, Arthur & Margaret; sisters, Barbara West, Charlotte Anderson; and a brother, Arthur Harding.

 Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Altamont Stake Center (15709 4000 N, Altamont). There will be a viewing on Friday from 6-8 p.m. at the Hullinger Mortuary (457 E 300 North, Roosevelt, UT) and on Saturday from 10-10:45 a.m. at the church.

 Burial will be in the Altonah Cemetery.

 All who knew him are welcome and invited to join in honoring a man whose spirit will never fade.