Susan McGown

Susan Noren Hammond McGown was born on December 26th, 1941 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Howard Tracy Hammond and Irene Anna Elizabeth Carlson. She died peacefully on June 13, 2026 in Provo, Utah with her family by her side.

As a child, her family moved briefly to Denver, Colorado but quickly thereafter settled in San Mateo, California where she would spend her formative years, and where she would forever consider home. She graduated from San Mateo High School and would go on to get a degree in English from Brigham Young University. It was at BYU that she met Carl McGown, and they were married not long after in Menlo Park, California on August 15, 1964 (they were later sealed in the Los Angeles LDS Temple).

She and Carl relocated soon after graduation to Laie, Hawaii where they lived a nearly idyllic life – newly married, in the prime of their youth, and in the sun, sand, and water of the North Shore. She taught English at a Junior High School in Wahiawa, and made the commute in a red convertible MG. After four years in Hawaii, the couple relocated to Eugene, Oregon where Carl completed his PhD, and Chris was born in 1969. After an all-too brief stop back in the bay area, the family settled in what would be her home for the rest of her life in Provo, Utah where Paul was born in 1974. They first lived in Springdell where she made lifelong friends with the menagerie of neighbors who helped raise her boys. In 1991 they moved down to the River Bottoms, to the home where she would live the rest of her life.

Her life’s work was her family: the raising of Chris and Paul and looking after Carl and supporting his teaching and coaching careers. When Carl and Susan started Canyon Volleyball in 1985, Susan was instrumental in the success of the business – Carl would do the coaching, but Susan effectively ran the business and was the ultimate customer service representative. She did the books, organized the calendar, sent out end-of-year gifts, handled all the chaos of the summer, and kept the organization on the rails. When the business grew into Gold Medal Squared in the early 2000s, she was able to slow down and enjoy her summers again.

She treasured her friendships, both those she cemented in her youth, and those that came later in life. Some of her favorite times were lunches she had at the Brick Oven with the ladies. Everyone that met her was struck by her outgoing and cheery nature, by the positivity that she brought to her relationships, and by her natural beauty and talkative charm. In what was an apt metaphor of the many nuances and contradictions in her nature, they were also struck by how often they found her at her house in a bathrobe. She was a prolific reader, and for most of her life you could find her with her nose in a book. She was a lifetime member of the LDS Faith, and found her greatest joy in working with the youth of the Church and the strong, smart, capable women that joined her.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by her brothers Robert and Philip, her sons Chris and Paul, and her five adoring grandchildren – Presley, Stella, Guinevere, Eleanor, and Luke. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday June 19 at the Nelson Family Mortuary, 4780 N University Ave, Provo Utah. Friends may call at the Nelson Family Mortuary on Thursday June 18th, from 6-8:00 p.m. and at Friday morning from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services. Interment, East Lawn Memorial Cemetery.