Stephanie A. Morwood Franchow

Stephanie A. Morwood Franchow, age 61, of Sandy, Utah, our beloved mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend returned to the loving arms of the Lord while surrounded by family and friends on May 7, 2024.

Stephanie was born on August 10, 1962, in St. George, Utah, to Sherrill Susan Atkinson Morwood and Bill Morwood. In the late 1960s, the young family built a home in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, where Stephanie attended Butler Elementary. She was a playful and curious child. Stephanie always said that “recess” was her favorite subject.

In 1974, the family, now with four children, returned to St. George where Stephanie attended middle school. In St. George, still a very small town at the time, girls were required to wear skirts or dresses to school. Stephanie, having been used to wearing Levi’s in Salt Lake, was very frustrated by that. Stephanie was very popular and enjoyed her high school years, graduating from Dixie High in 1980.

Stephanie immediately enrolled at Evan’s Hairstyling College and soon became a licensed cosmetologist, just like her mom. She began working for a time and then decided she wanted to try modeling. She enrolled in classes at the Barbizon school in Salt Lake City and commuted weekly from St. George for classes for a time while still working as a hairstylist. She also seriously considered a career as a flight attendant. She settled on a cosmetology career but wanted to spread her wings, so in 1985 she moved to Salt Lake City, got a job, and lived with her maternal grandparents.

This is when she reconnected with Gerald (Matthew) Franchow. Stephanie had been a close friend of Matthew’s younger sister when they all lived on the same street in Cottonwood Heights. The two had not seen each other for years but fell in love immediately and were married on September 6, 1986, in St. George. They divorced in 2021. Out of that union came the light of Stephanie’s life. Her only child, Landon Charles Franchow, was born on October 17, 1990, at Cottonwood Hospital in Salt Lake.

The couple had purchased a home in Sandy in 1988 and quickly installed a beauty shop in the basement, so Stephanie was able to work at home and care for her baby, as she had planned. She always had a plan. Stephanie was a loving and attentive mother who always put the needs of her child above all else. These were the happiest days of Stephanie’s life as she worked with her many clients and spent lots of time nurturing and caring for Landon.

Stephanie was known and loved for her fun, optimistic, and outgoing personality. She could be outrageous and extravagant at times but always sincere and generous. She was honest to a fault. Stephanie was a highly regarded and successful businessperson. She operated her full-service in-home beauty salon for a total of 30 years in both of the couple's Sandy homes. She was a truly talented and innovative stylist.

Stephanie loved Mondays. For about 10 years, almost every Monday, she hosted a girl’s night viewing party. They watched “Dancing With the Stars” or one of the “Bachelor” franchise programs (with the surround sound cranked!) and enjoyed whatever delicious soup or salad Steph had made from scratch. She treasured those days.

She loved gardening and ceramics. She made beautiful dolls and intricate porcelain nativity scenes for herself and her loved ones.

Stephanie’s holiday dinners and decorations were legendary. She took so much joy in creating an over-the-top but always warm and personal holiday atmosphere for everyone to connect. She loved planning for special celebrations, any celebration, hers or yours, and they were always tasteful and special.

Stephanie had a love and natural talent for home renovation and interior design. She always had a project in the works and often helped friends with theirs.

She loved dogs. She kept the collar of her childhood companion, “Buddy,” for the rest of her life. Her other dogs, Peaches, Caddy Sue, Lucky, Ringo, Rufus, and Jack, were adored and pampered.

Steph loved hard rock music. Her favorites were Van Halen, Judas Priest, Nickelback, The Cars, Scorpions, and many more. She loved telling the story of her chance meeting with Judas Priest bassist Ian Hill in Las Vegas after a show. They spent the evening talking and looking at photos of his “castle and cars in England.” She was very proud of that.

Stephanie believed that the greatest rewards in life came from having close personal relationships, and by that measure, she was wealthy beyond imagination. It’s difficult to say how many clients she served over the years, but she was deeply connected to and truly loved by all of them. She often went to care facilities and funeral homes to care for people. If you were Steph’s client, she considered it a lifetime commitment. For several years, she set up shop one day a week at Wentworth assisted living. She made a little extra money but did it mostly to help the ladies there, all while making even more close friends.

Stephanie was always so beautiful and stylish with her perfect makeup, hair, nails, clothing, and jewelry. But aside from that, she rarely thought of herself or her own needs. She was much more concerned about others.

If she cared about you, she made it loud and clear. She would do anything for you at any time. She gave until it hurt and would provide or help you get whatever you needed, often without you asking. She would laugh with you, cry with you, care for you when you were sick, and support and comfort you through tragedy. Any of Stephanie’s dozens of close personal friends would say the same.

The unspoken purpose of Stephanie’s life was connecting with others and lifting them up when it was most needed. She will be greatly missed and always remembered and spoken of with true unconditional love.

Preceded in death by her grandparents, Lawrence and Bobbie Morwood and Mark and Kathleen Atkinson, her mother Susan Brown, and by her dearest friend, Wendy Diane Facente.

Survived by her father, Bill Morwood (Sandy) of Logandale, NV; son Landon Franchow (Amanda) of Magna, UT; step-daughter, Emilie Franchow of Milwaukee, WI; siblings Larry Morwood (Susan) of Mapleton, Sherrill Brinkerhoff of Logandale, NV, and David Morwood of Las Vegas, NV.

Stephanie’s Celebration of Life will be held for family and friends on Saturday, May 25th, 2024, from 5 to 7 pm at Stark’s Funeral Parlor located at 3651 S 900 E in Salt Lake City, UT. 

Goodbye for now, our sweet, beautiful girl. You were a “big deal” and will never be forgotten.