Gordon J. Stevens was born on 31 March 1932 in Ogden, UT. As a young man he had a passion for baseball and played catcher for American Legion, military, and minor league professional teams. He served in the United States Marine Corp in California and Hawaii during the Korean conflict. After his military service, he pursued higher education at Weber College in Ogden and at Utah State University in Logan, UT. With a bachelor's degree in Forestry, and a master's degree in Forest Economics he embarked on a career with the US Forest Service serving first in Escalante and Cedar City, Utah, and later in Warren, McCall, Garden Valley, and Boise, Idaho. He worked as a forester, district ranger, on the forest supervisor staff, and as a class 1 fire boss. After his retirement from the Forest Service he worked for a time as a consultant on large project fires and with fire training for various government agencies and tribal governments. He was active throughout his life as a hiker, camper, backpacker, fisherman, hunter, bicyclist, golfer, and woodworker. He was also an avid reader. He was a lifelong active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many capacities including as a bishop in Boise. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Amy following a marriage of 56 years, and by his sister Audrey. In later years, Gordon and Amy moved from Boise to Colorado Springs to be closer to their grandchildren. He is survived by his two sons and their wives, and by eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.