Stanley Groen

If you’ve ever experienced an anchoring center to a family unit, then you knew our beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather Stanley Groen. Having just celebrated his 94th birthday with many generations of his family days before, Stan passed away due to incidents of age on September 28, 2022. To know Stan was to know of his steadiness, his constancy, his fortitude, and his deep thinking. His steadiness manifest in many ways but not least of which in his loving care to his sweetheart and eternal companion Audrey Groen. Stan & Audrey were married for 61 years before her passing in 2012. Audrey suffered a debilitating stroke in 2000 which left her partially paralyzed. Though this changed the retirement and ‘Golden Years’ plans they had made, Stan lovingly cared for Audrey through this new phase of life by creating wheelchair ramps and work arounds to keep Audrey mobile and able to visit the vast family they had created together. While many things in the world shift, change or slip away, Stan was constant in his faith and in his family. His family knew he could always be counted on to assist in a construction project and for thoughtful advice. He wasn’t quick to make decisions, as he preferred to take the time to think things through from every angle before making decisions. It made it him an incredible resource to his large family when one needed the kind of big life advice only Stan could supply. Though we already feel his loss as our family’s central hub, we appreciate the reunion with Audrey, his parents, and his siblings who all passed before him. Their reunion must be as joyous as our loss is sad.

Stan was born September 21, 1928, to Jorijntje Van Voorden and Dirk Groen in Salt Lake City. His parents were immigrants from the Netherlands and Stan was the youngest of six Groen children. An appreciation for tulips, windmills, wooden clogs, and all things Dutch is still present through generations of the family along with a connection to our Groen cousins that still reside across the pond. Stan grew up in the Liberty Wells neighborhood and graduated from Granite High School. In 1950, Stan was drafted into the U.S. Army 2nd Armored Division for the Korean Conflict. Fortunately for Stan, his military service took him to Germany as part of the forces stationed there in case the Cold War turned hot. While in the Army, the feelings Stan had developed for Audrey before being drafted ripened and he phoned from basic training with a proposal of marriage. Luckily despite the distance introduced by the Army, she said Yes! and they were married March 5, 1951 in the Salt Lake Temple.

When his military service ended, Stan began a career with the Buehner Concrete Company as an architectural draftsman and worked his way up to become the head of his department where he would help design some of the most notable buildings in Salt Lake City and for the LDS Church. His projects included the LDS Church Office Building, Eagle Gate Tower, Salt Lake Airport traffic control tower, the LDS Church Genealogy Building, Jordan River LDS Temple, Portland Oregon LDS Temple, and the J. Rueben Clark Law Building on the campus of BYU. Stan and Audrey made their home in Salt Lake City where they raised their family of 4 girls and 1 boy. Their children in turned created an impressive array of 28 grandchildren. Stan & Audrey’s home was often the location for the tradition of large family home nights which were often followed by rowdy games of ‘steal the flag’ in the backyard. Audrey and Stanley accomplished a lifelong dream when they served a mission together for the LDS Church in the Africa Area Office, based in Johannesburg South Africa, from 1997 to 1998.

Stan is survived by his five children Sherrie Kelsch (Glen), Linda Delahunty (Alan), Holly Bradshaw (Dan), Jan Last (Brad), and John Groen (Andrea); 28 grandchildren, and 88 great grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife Audrey, parents Dirk and Jorijntje, and siblings Dick, John, Henry, Ella, and Martin.

We invite friends and family to join in a celebration of Stan’s life. A viewing will be held on Friday, October 7, 2022 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Larkin Sunset Lawn (2350 E. 1300 S. Salt Lake City). A second viewing will be held at the Grandview 1st Ward (2930 S. 2000 E. Salt Lake City) on Saturday, October 8, 2022 from 9:30 am to 10:45 am with the funeral service at 11:00 am. Interment will be at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery (3401 South Highland Dr.).

For those unable to attend, services will be streamed via Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85216771213. A Zoom account is required to view.