Glena Stelter

Glena often quipped with a twinkle in her eye and a grin on her face that her name spelled “angel” when you unscramble the letters. She is now an angel in the truest sense, as she returned to her heavenly home on November 24, 2025, due to incidents of age. Regardless of any circumstances Glena faced, she smiled, laughed, and hugged her way through life. She was sunshine in human form. Even in her waning days with diminished capacity for speech, her reflex was to smile and say, “Thank you; I love you.” We will miss her so very much.

Glena Delois Stelter was born on August 5, 1938, to Arvel Leek, a hard-working electrician, and Autie Leek, a Southern spitfire from East Texas. Glena was their first daughter and third child in what became a family of eight. The Leeks were a close, loving family. As a young girl, Glena wanted desperately to learn to play the piano, though her family did not own one. The lack of a piano was no match for Glena’s optimism. She simply painted piano keys on a wooden board and deftly moved her fingers across the keys as the music rang perfectly in her mind. Ultimately, her parents saved enough money for an actual piano and tapped a teenage piano prodigy in the neighborhood named Melton Stelter to teach Glena piano lessons. Over time, Glena and Melton became teenage sweethearts.

Glena waited for Melton as he shipped off to war and then again when he left to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The waiting finally came to an end when Glena and Melton were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 10, 1958. More than anything, Glena wanted to be a mother. She was blessed with six children, three boys and three girls. Those children went on to give Glena 14 grandchildren. Nothing made Glena happier than being with her family.

Those who knew Glena know how talented she was, particularly as a seamstress. As a young bride, Glena designed and sewed her own wedding dress, as well as those of her bridesmaids. As a mother of six, Glena stretched the family budget by sewing her children’s clothes. The Stelter kids were often decked out in Glena originals, which bore a label on the inside that read, “Made with Love by Mom.”

Above all, Glena simply adored life and relationships. She loved to laugh and joke. She had a special gift that made you feel loved, even as she teased you. To her final breath, Glena had an unwavering testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that she was welcomed home by her beloved Melton, and that they are making music together again. Glena is survived by her six children, Melodie (John) Bauer, Carrie (Michael) O’Dea, Jeffrey (Jill) Stelter, Casey (Angela) Stelter, Judson (Sara) Stelter, Hollie Stelter, as well as 14 grandchildren.

Glena was preceded in death by her sweetheart, Melton, her parents, and her siblings: Tom, Duane, Dale, Laura Lee, and Randy.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 1, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Latter-day Saint meetinghouse located at 1845 East 7200 South, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 84121. Friends and family may call from 10:00-10:45 a.m. prior to the funeral services.