Steven Sugimoto

Steven Tsuyoshi Sugimoto

September 7, 1947 ~ May 14, 2016

Steven Tsuyoshi Sugimoto, loving husband, father, son, brother, grandfather, and uncle passed away peacefully with his family at his side on Saturday, May 14, 2016 after a courageous battle with multiple long-term illnesses.

Steve was born on September 7, 1947 in Ogden, Utah to George Joji and Ruth Ishida Sugimoto. He graduated from Weber High School in 1965 and then with a Bachelors in Business from Weber State University in 1969.

Steve found many successes throughout his professional career, including his selection to participate in the Dept. of Defense Supply Management Enhancement program in 1983, where he spent a year at the Pentagon working with the Assistant Secretary of Defense and the Supply Policy Offices of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  This led him to a role as Chief of the Depot Support Office for the Defense Depot in Ogden, Utah, a division of the Dept. of Defense. He retired after 36 years of government service, having served his last five years at HAFB.  He then enjoyed his dream job at Uinta Golf for eight years. In addition to the time Steve spent dedicated to his professional success, he also made time to give back to his community.  He served as a member of the Ogden Chamber of Commerce as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the March of Dimes, Northern Utah Division.

Steve married his sweetheart, Vicki L. Fairless, on November 30, 1992, and his crowning and proudest achievement was his unbreakable network of loving friends and family.  It is these individuals with whom he found his greatest happiness and most heartfelt accomplishments, as was evident with the pride he had for his children and grandchildren as he taught them how to fly fish; or the best of times he had on the golf course playing the game he loved most; or the laughter he shared with lifelong friends over coffee every Thursday morning.

The love he shared with his children, grandchildren, siblings, mother and his loving wife, Vicki, will be sorely missed by his entire family and all those fortunate enough to have been a part of Steve’s warm and genuinely kind heart. One of the most difficult aspects of his failing health was not being able to attend his children and grandchildren’s games and other events, of which he had always been very supportive.

Steve was preceded in death by his father, George and is survived by his mother, Ruth; brother, Wayne; and sister, Karen (Dan) Downing; his three children, Scott (Heather), Aaron and Shawna; the mother of his children, Marie Weston; his 10 loving grandchildren; his dearest wife, Vicki; and her daughter, Gillian (Joey) D’Alessandro; niece, Sunni (Joe) DiNicola; and nephew, Nathan; and one great-niece.  He will also be missed by his sweet dog, Pushka, his three cats and his cockatoo, Annie.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 3 p.m. at Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd.  Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday at the Ogden Buddhist Church, 155 North St. from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The family would like to thank Dr. Gary Holland and Heather Sorensen and staff at Comfort Worx Hospice for their compassionate care of Steve.

In lieu of flowers, the Sugimoto family and Steve have asked friends and family to please donate to Reel Recovery  at www.reelrecovery.org, an organization supporting men with all forms of cancer, or Casting for Recovery www.castingforrecovery.org.