April 18, 1938 — May 5, 2023

Stephen Lowell Tanner died from kidney failure May 5, 2023. Born April 18, 1938, he was the sixth of seven children of Nathan Russell and Dorothy Woods Tanner. He graduated from Ogden High School and then from the University of Utah with B.A. and M.A. degrees. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He married Madlyn Gillespie in the Salt Lake Temple August 18, 1961. They raised three children — Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Stephen — and lived in Wisconsin, Idaho, Brazil, Portugal, London and Utah. Steve earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and began a life of teaching and scholarly research. His first job was at the University of Idaho-Moscow and he was then recruited to Brigham Young University where he was an English professor for 28 years. While at BYU he received many awards, including the P.A. Christensen Lectureship, Phi Kappa Phi Scholar Award, the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lectureship, the Ralph A. Britsch Humanities Professorship, and the national Lionel Trilling Award. His profession allowed him to travel to many places to present scholarly papers at conferences in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Paraguay, Spain, and within the United States. He is the author of more than 200 articles and four books: Ken Kesey, Ernest Haycox, Paul Elmer More, and Lionel Trilling. Steve was a member of the Hemingway and Fitzgerald societies, the Zane Grey Society, the Emily Dickinson International Society, and the German Association for the Study of the Western. He was a senior Fulbright Scholar three times in Brazil and once in Portugal. He was a faculty director on two BYU study abroad programs in London. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a mission in the Northern States. He also served as a bishop, a high council member, and as a branch president at the Provo MTC for the Portuguese-speaking branch. He and his wife served for several years in the Provo area Special Needs Activities Program. Dubbed a Renaissance man by his family, Steve appreciated fine art, good music, and books from all genres. Until his death he was reading books in German and Portuguese. He was an avid fly fisherman who created his own flies to tempt the fish in the Madison River. His family will miss his sense of humor, his Steve’s Specials meals, and his harmonica playing. Steve was diagnosed with diabetes at age 35 and spent the last eight years of his life on kidney dialysis. The family is grateful to the staff at DaVita for their care. His great joy in life was his family, who survive him: his wife, Madlyn; his children Elizabeth, Charlotte (Chet) Poulton, and Stephen (Jodi); his Poulton grandchildren Tanner (McKayla), Cameron (Hallie), Ian, Abigail, and his great-grandson Warren. He is survived by brothers Nathan C. Tanner and David K. Tanner, and was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, and two brothers. Funeral services will be Saturday, May 13, 2023, 12:00 p.m. at the Sharon East Stake Center, 2400 North 1060 East in Provo. Visitations will be Friday, May 12, 2023, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Nelson Family Mortuary, 4780 North University Avenue in Provo; and Saturday, May 13, 2023, 10:00-11:30 a.m. at the church before the services.