Leon Alfred Davies

Leon Alfred Davies, age 93, died at home November 13, 2024, in Bountiful Utah. He was born May 3, 1931, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Hedwig Trauffer and Clyde Alfred Davies, the third of four children. He graduated from Granite High School and the University of Utah.

Leon married Marilyn Kay Ward on August 23, 1956, in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they made their home in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mountain View, California and Bountiful, Utah.

Leon worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California for 29 years where he supervised the testing of multi-million-dollar satellites and worked on a number of top-secret government projects. 

Leon was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a missionary in the Texas Louisiana Mission, was a Seminary teacher, elders quorum president, president of the stake seventies quorum, stake mission president, bishop, branch president, and high councilor. He believed in the importance of General Conference and went from listening to a radio signal to setting up antenna dishes throughout the Bay Area so people could see and hear the messages from Church leaders. He worked with Stanford University and 13 other faith groups to create the Bay Area Religious Channel (BARC). This led to the forming of a nationwide gathering of major faith groups called the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network (VISN), which later became the Faith and Values channel (Hallmark) promoting uplifting family values.

Leon and Marilyn served five full-time missions as public affairs missionaries in the New York New York City Mission and the Utah Salt Lake City Mission. They had responsibilities for the “Sunday Worship Services” and other television series. Leon also served with Marilyn as the director of the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters. As the director of the Bountiful Heights family history center, he and Marilyn also opened their home to help patrons with family history.

Leon was a pioneer, an inventor, and a man of vision, insight, initiative and integrity. He had an unwavering testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he tried to demonstrate it by the way he lived and served.

Leon is survived by his wife Marilyn, five children, Diane (John) Buckley, Sondra (Creg) Ostler, Ross (Margaret) Davies, Arlene (Loyd) Treuhaft, Carol (Kevin) Hale, 24 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren and his sister Gwen Simpson. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother David Davies, sister Venice Kratzer, granddaughter Laura Davies, and great-granddaughter Juliet Ostler. We are grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that gives us the assurance that families can be together forever.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the Ward Canyon Ward Chapel, 540 North 1200 East, Bountiful, Utah. A viewing will be held Friday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main, Bountiful, Utah, and Saturday morning from 9:30-10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment- Memorial Lakeview Cemetery. 

Services will be streamed live on the Russon Mortuary Live Facebook page and on this obituary page. The live stream will begin about 10-15 minutes prior to the service and will be posted below.