Gaylen Pedersen

Gaylen Pedersen, age 92, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2026, surrounded by members of his family. 

Gaylen was born a twin on March 4, 1934, in Salt Lake County, Utah, to Oliver Cowdery Pedersen and Phoebe Gold Gedge Pedersen. He was the fifth of ten children: Herbert, Herschel, Keith, Kent, Gaylen, Gilbert, Remore, Elray, Karen, and Phoebe Jean. 

One can imagine the amount of work it took to raise this large family during the Great Depression. His young life was altered painfully at age 14 when his mother unexpectedly passed away. It became a marker in his life of sadness and a broken heart. The large family had to carry on, each with an assignment so they could stay together. His task was to make breakfast for everyone before work and school, usually oatmeal. His work ethic and doing tasks to help others carried on into the rest of his life. He was never afraid of hard work. He lived the rest of his life so his mother would be proud of the man he became. 

Gaylen was raised in Salt Lake County and attended Granite School District schools, graduating from Cyprus High School in 1952. He then attended Brigham Young University for five quarters before answering a call to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the New England States Mission in May 1954. 

Following his mission, Gaylen entered the United States Army and was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, near El Paso, for basic training in August 1956. After completing basic and advanced training, he was permanently assigned to Fort Bliss in January 1957. 

It was during his time in El Paso that Gaylen met Mary Ann Hunter, who was home visiting, following her junior year at Brigham Young University. They both attended a volleyball game where he apparently was “hogging the ball”. That led to a first date during which they talked until 3 am. Their courtship blossomed, the spirit was felt and they were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple on Friday, September 13, 1957. 

Following his military service, Gaylen and Mary Ann returned to Brigham Young University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Physics in August 1959. 

Gaylen was serious-minded, disciplined, and straightforward. You could say he was a no nonsense guy. He was reserved but a deeply devoted patriarch who possessed an abiding love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his family and posterity, and his ancestors on both sides of the veil. Those who knew him well recognized his unwavering commitment to doing what he believed was right. 

Mary Ann brought a wonderfully different spirit to their marriage. She was spirited, fun-loving, adventurous, outgoing, and filled with a great zest for life. Her remarkable capacity to love others was one of her defining gifts. Gaylen recognized early that her warmth and love would make her an extraordinary wife and mother - and she was. In many ways, Gaylen and Mary Ann stood at opposite ends of the personality spectrum, yet they were united by their love of the Gospel and their devotion to their family. 

Their greatest legacy is found in their seven children and the generations that followed: Mark Pedersen (Kellie), Gordon Pedersen (Julia), Gay Lynn Belliston (Russ), Eric Pedersen (Stephanie), Scott Pedersen (Kristiane), Julie Karlinsey (Troy), and Dale Pedersen (Kim). They were also blessed with 39 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren, with their family continuing to grow. 

Gaylen and Mary Ann took great joy in the lives and accomplishments of their children. They enjoyed creating lasting memories for them such as taking them to the Oregon Coast, up to the Uinta Mountains and East Canyon. There were festive and funny Christmas parties and Disneyland trips that gave all their children happy and bonding times together. 

Like every family, the Pedersen’s experienced challenges: illness, loss, near-death experiences, and difficult seasons. Through it all, faith, perseverance, and love bound them together. Gaylen believed deeply in the strength of his family and took great satisfaction in watching his children and grandchildren grow, serve, learn, work and build families of their own. 

Service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a central part of Gaylen's life. In addition to his mission as a young man, he served in three bishoprics, including as bishop. He taught in nearly every organization of the Church and especially loved teaching Gospel Doctrine. 

Later in life, Gaylen and Mary Ann served two full-time missions together. Their first included service in Nauvoo, Illinois, where Gaylen supported Mary Ann as she directed the Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo productions. They treasured their time there, and their Nauvoo mission became one of the great spiritual and joyful experiences of their lives together. 

Their second senior mission took them to Brigham Young University–Hawaii. There, Gaylen drew upon his professional experience to modernize and streamline university operations. 

Gaylen also enjoyed a distinguished professional career. He served for 25 years in civil service with the United States Air Force at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Beginning in 1963 as a GS-11 engineer, he steadily advanced through the senior management ranks to the GS-15 level. 

During his career, Gaylen led the Service Engineering Division and later the Plans and Programs Directorate, one of the six major organizations at Hill Air Force Base. In that role, he participated in major base war-planning responsibilities and, during military exercises, directed the command center during nighttime operations. His level of responsibility was comparable to senior military leadership. 

In his final Air Force assignment, Gaylen served as the Minuteman and Titan Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Engineering Chief. He was frequently called upon to take responsibility for organizations facing difficult challenges. Among senior Air Force leaders, he earned a reputation as a "Straight Arrow"—a description that reflected the integrity, directness, and dependability that characterized both his professional and personal life. 

Gaylen took early retirement from the Air Force in 1987 at the age of 53. He then began a second career as an independent consultant specializing in proposal development and training. For more than 30 years, it allowed him to travel the world and devote more time to one of the great passions of his life: family history. 

Gaylen was a pioneer in genealogical and family history research. His interest began in the early 1960s and continued for more than five decades. He viewed family history not simply as a hobby, but as an expression of his testimony and his desire to bring the blessings of the Gospel to generations of family members on both sides of the veil. 

Together, Gaylen and Mary Ann published more than 58 volumes of family history. Under Gaylen's leadership and through the combined efforts of many family members, an estimated 110,000 ancestral names were prepared for temple work, including a significant number from Mary Ann's ancestry.

 In addition to family history, another passion and hobby of Gaylen’s was gardening. He spent many hours in in the garden growing a variety of vegetables and fruits that the family enjoyed each harvest. Grapes for his famous jelly and his sweet sweet sweet corn were delicacies. Raspberries, apricots, tomatoes and potatoes also adorned the summer dinner table. He loved picking the produce and preparing it for anyone who needed a meal. 

In 2018, Gaylen increasingly devoted his time to caring for Mary Ann during the final years of her life. His loving care for his wife during those years was another quiet expression of the commitment he had made to her more than six decades earlier in the Mesa Arizona Temple. 

Above all else, Gaylen's life was defined by devotion—to his faith, his wife, his family, his work, and generations of ancestors and descendants. 

Gaylen was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Mary Ann; his parents, Oliver and Phoebe; seven siblings, Herbert, Herschel, Keith, Kent, Gilbert, Remore, and Elray; his son, Scott; and his grandson, Daniel. 

After a long and productive life, Gaylen now rejoins those loved ones who went before him. He leaves behind a remarkable posterity and a legacy of faith. 

Gaylen will be interred at Lakeview Cemetery beside his beloved wife, Mary Ann. 

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, August 22, 2026 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 33 S. Moss Hill Dr., Bountiful, Utah, where a viewing will be held from 9:45 am - 10:45 am prior to services.

Special thanks to Julie and Kayelin from Inspiration Hospice.