Stephen Charles McLaughlin

On January 22, 2024, Stephen Charles McLaughlin passed away in an auto accident in Tonopah, Arizona. Stephen was born on April 23, 1964, at Hill AFB, Utah, the first child of Julia Fuhriman and Charles McLaughlin, an Air Force couple. Stephen grew up in a typical A.F. family with numerous moves within the stateside A.F. He graduated from Bonneville High School where he was a member of a state championship cross-country team. He subsequently attended Weber State University until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy; his Navy specialty was a sonar mate on the USS Drum, where he served until the boat was retired. 

From his earliest years, Stephen was an ardent lover of the great outdoors. He began fishing at the age of four and received his hunter safety training as soon as he was eligible. 

After leaving the Navy, Stephen worked in the maintenance department at San Onofrio Nuclear Power Plant near San Diego. While living there he developed a talent as a “home-brewer” of beer and ale and won so many competitions he was invited to be a judge in the annual Delmar Fair. The San Onofrio plant eventually closed, and he took a similar position at the Mesa Verde Power Plant in Tonopah, Arizona. Desiring a change of pace from the nuclear environment, he took a job as a warehouse worker/order puller with the Chewy pet products in Tonopah. The auto accident occurred right after work and after dropping off his carpool member.

Stephen is survived by his father, brother Tim, and sisters Catherine and Susan. He was preceded in death by his mother.

A Funeral Mass followed by military honors will be held on February 28, 2024, at 11 a.m. at the Holy Family Catholic Church, 1110 East 5500 South, South Ogden. Inurnment, Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd.