Julia Stevens Warner
Julia Stevens Warner
“Forever Sweethearts”
Julia Stevens Warner was born in Holden, Utah on April 13, 1925 to Orvin Edward and Alice Louise Johnson Stevens.
Julia’s family lived through the depression as she grew up, which made a deep impression on her. She was active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life. She graduated with honors from Millard High School in Fillmore, Utah in 1943 and the Branch Agricultural College in Cedar City Utah in 1945.
She married her high school sweetheart, Fred Ray Warner, on July 17, 1945 in the Manti Temple when he was on furlough from the Army Air Corps (the predecessor of the Air Force). After the war, they built a home in Fillmore, Utah, and he went into the automobile business with his father and brothers. They were blessed with five children: Dwight Fred, Bruce Edward, Wayne (deceased shortly after birth), Rozanne, and Mark Stevens Warner.
She served as President of the Primary, President of the Ward and Stake M.I.A, and Counselor in Ward and Stake Relief Society Presidencies. She taught piano lessons to twenty students for fifteen years. Fred and Julia welcomed Navajo Placement Students into their home and one of them, Orlinda Platero, became dear to the family as a daughter and a sister.
Fred and Julia went into business for themselves in 1969 when they purchased the local Stevens Department Store. Julia went to work outside of the home for the first time and found she enjoyed the challenge. She was active in all parts of the business – buying, selling, going to markets, and interacting with customers. After about ten years, they decided the time of the local department store had passed and they moved to St. George, Utah.
In St. George, they had many opportunities to serve the church. Julia completed an Old English extraction mission and then Fred and Julia served Spanish-speaking missions in East Los Angeles, California, Houston, Texas, Lima, Peru, and St. George, Utah. They were next called to be temple workers in the St. George Temple and served until Fred suffered a stroke and was ill for eleven years before he passed away. During that time Julia served as a Member Locator missionary and Fred did a great deal of genealogy work. Julia did indexing through her remaining years until she lost her sight and made quilts for all of her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed gardening, raising flowers, and fruit.
Julia enjoyed her 20-year association with the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and served as Vice Captain and Captain. She enjoyed reading, writing family histories, and family visits. Fred and Julia traveled many places throughout the United States and the world. Their favorite trip was when they took Julia’s mother to Israel and Europe.
Julia moved to Highland, Utah in October, 2012 to live with her daughter Rozanne and died peacefully in her home on August 20, 2023.
Julia is survived by her children Dwight and Roslind Warner (St. George, Utah), Bruce and Kathryn Warner (Garden City, Utah), Rozanne Warner and Gary Paxman (Highland, Utah), and Mark and Jerilyn Brown Warner (Springville, Utah), foster daughter, Orlinda Platero (New Mexico), sister-in-law Kaye Stevens Staheli (Holden, Utah), 22 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband Fred Ray Warner, her brother, Mont Johnson Stevens, and her sister, Kathleen Stevens, her brothers-in-law Joseph Warner (Madge), and Kurt Warner (LaRue) also daughter-in-law, Jill Bennion Warner.
Funeral services for Julia will be held on Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:00 am in the Highland 18th Ward Chapel, located at 4679 West 11000 North, Highland, Utah. Family and friends are invited to attend a viewing on Monday morning from 9:00-9:45 am prior to services at the church. Interment will follow at 3:00 pm in the Fillmore City Cemetery.