Merge the Granger East with the Granger North Stake

Remembering the Granger East Stake

A Legacy of Faith, Service and Community Since 1969

Last month marked the end of an era in our community as the Granger East Stake was retired and its congregations merged with the Granger North Stake. Along with this change came the retirement of the beloved Hillsdale Drive church building, a place filled with decades of worship, friendships, weddings, funerals, youth activities, ward dinners, service projects, and countless memories.

But the story of the Granger East Stake began more than half a century ago.

A New Stake Is Created — August 1969

In August 1969, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the creation of three new stakes, bringing the worldwide total to 493. One of those new stakes was the Granger East Stake in Salt Lake County.

The new stake was created from the Granger North Stake, making today's return to the Granger North name especially meaningful—a connection between the beginning and the closing chapter of the Granger East Stake.

The original Granger East Stake consisted of six wards:

Redwood Second Ward, Granger Fifth Ward, Granger Sixth Ward, Granger Seventh Ward, Granger Tenth Ward, and Granger Fourteenth Ward.

David Lingard was called as the first president of the newly organized Granger East Stake, with James D. McCleve and Per Haugen serving as his counselors.

President McCleve was born in Salt Lake City and married Verree Wightman. They were the parents of six children. Before his call to the stake presidency, he had served as a bishop, high councilor, and in other stake leadership responsibilities. He was the owner of McCleve Tile Company.

President Haugen was a native of Norway who joined the Church and was baptized in 1950. He married Gunvor Jorgensen. His previous Church service included leadership among the Seventy, service in a bishopric, and membership on the high council. He owned General Communications.

The reorganization also continued the leadership of President Lingard in the Granger North Stake. President Garth had served as stake president since November 1965. An employee of Hercules, he was a former schoolteacher and had also served in the Utah State Legislature.

More Than a Name or a Building

For more than 57 years, the Granger East Stake became part of the lives of thousands of people in this community. Generations of children grew up within its wards. Young people attended activities and prepared for missions. Families worshipped together, neighbors served one another, and friendships were formed that lasted lifetimes.

Church boundaries and buildings inevitably change as communities change. But retiring a stake does not erase its history.

The Granger East Stake lives on in the people who worshipped and served within it, in the photographs and records that remain, and in the memories of generations of Granger families.

As we say goodbye to the Granger East Stake and the Hillsdale Drive building, we also celebrate everything that happened within them.

And there is something beautifully fitting about the story coming full circle:

We began as part of the Granger North Stake in 1969—and more than half a century later, we are together again under the Granger North Stake name.

The name may hae been retired, but 57 years of faith, service, friendship, and Granger history will always remain.