We seem to have hit a streak of bad luck on the roads. On Monday, May 20th, at around 5:30, Nate texted me to tell me he was on his way home (as he does everyday). When 6:00 rolled around and he still wasn't home, I started to get a little worried. I had been outside with the kids for a few minutes and I ran in to check my phone and sure enough, Nate had left a message. It basically said he'd been hit on the freeway and he was waiting for the police to arrive. My heart started to race but I figured if he was okay enough to call me, he was probably okay. I tried calling him right back and it went straight to voicemail. I tried again and it went to voicemail again (I later found out that since Nate had to call 911, they block your phone for 5 minutes so your line stays clear in case they need to reach you).
Nate finally called me back a few minutes later. He said he was fine, he had just hit his head. He said some guy plowed into the back of him and then sped off. He said he could tell there was something wrong with the man that hit him. He made eye contact with him and he could tell he wasn't in his right mind. Nate them pulled over and called the police and was waiting for them to arrive. Nate could see another accident up on the off ramp near him, but he couldn't really tell what was going on. He could tell that the same car had hit someone else. He saw the paramedics pull the man out of his car and put him in the ambulance.
Nate waited and waited and no one was coming to help him. He called 911 back twice more and they said there was another major accident and they were a little tied up but would be there soon.
After 45 minutes of sitting there waiting, Nate saw a Highway Patrol Officer driving by. The offiicer stopped, noticing that Nate had been hit, and asked if he was okay. Nate told him that the guy that hit that other car up ahead, had hit him first. The HP was shocked to hear this and asked Nate to carefully follow him over the the other accident scene.
Nate drove over to the scene and told the officers what had happened and they took his report. Nate told them he had hit his head pretty hard, and he felt nauseous. They took Nate over to the Ambulance and had the paramedics check him over. They said he had a mild concussion/whiplash but he was okay. Nate asked if the guy that hit him was okay, and the officers told him that he was pronounced dead on the scene. The man had proceeded to hit another car head on, a Jeep, and that man was in critical condition and probably wasn't going to survive either.
Nate was shocked to hear this. They believe that the man that hit Nate, Lee Stephens, was having some sort of medical emergency and was not in control of his body. When he hit Nate, they estimated that he was going about 85 MPH. After he hit Nate, he accelerated to 90+ MPH and went up the embankment onto the on-ramp of I-215 and ran head-on into the man in the Jeep and pushed the Jeep off the on-ramp and the Jeep then rolled all the way down the hill and landed on the Legacy trail.
This is the white Jeep at the bottom on the hill.
I went to pick Nate up and tow the car home. We weren't able to get an insurance information from the man that hit him since he had passed away in the accident.
After hearing all the facts of the accident and seeing the end result, we were very humbled and grateful that Nate came home from work that day. The damage to our (2 month old) car was very minimal for what could have been. We felt so bad for the other families involved, especially the Stephens family. How quickly life is taken from this life to the next.
We witnessed several tender mercies that day. Had Nate been hit any more to one side or the other, he would have spun out (going 65 MPH, being hit at 85 MPH). Had Nate been in a different lane, he would have been pushed into the guard rail and flipped out of control. We also wonder what Nate's purpose was on the road that day. He had left on his bike early that morning, planning to ride to work, and about a mile into his ride it started raining so he came back and drove so he wouldn't ruin his laptop. Was Nate meant to be in the way to slow down the out of control car? Would more people have been hurt that day if Nate wasn't there to take some of the blow? We don't know. But we are so grateful for ministering angels that were watching over our family yet again that day. And we are so grateful that our Daddy came home from work that day, when two other daddy's did not make it home to their families.
Berton L. Stephens (Lee)
March 24, 1959 ~ May 20, 2013Our dear sweet husband, father, son, brother,
uncle, and grandfather returned home to his loving
Heavenly Father on May 20, 2013.
He was born to goodly parents Allen and
Nora B. Stephens on March 24, 1959 in Paris, Idaho.
Lee graduated from Clearfield High School in 1977
and served an LDS Mission to the California
Oakland Mission. Lee married his dear sweet wife,
Valerie on December 19, 1980 in the Salt Lake Temple. Lee graduated from BYU
in Public Policy and received a master's degree in Public Administration from the
University of Utah. Lee worked 27 years for the State of Utah with the Fiscal Analyst
Office, the School for the Deaf and Blind, and with the State Tax Commission.
Lee volunteered his time as an appointed treasurer for the Utah Developmental
Disability Council. Lee was a righteous man, who arrived to work early to read
his scriptures and prayed on his knees every morning. Lee never complained
despite a back injury that left him in daily pain, now he suffers no more. Lee loved
his two daughters, he never missed a performance and endured playing Barbie dolls
with them. Lee enjoyed BYU sports, computers, politics, and the stock market.
His granddaughter will miss her grandpa "Yee" and all the love and attention he gave her.
Lee is survived by his wife, Valerie; his daughters Marissa Jarrett (Cody), Provo,
Utah and Desiree Carlton (Anthony) Fairview, Utah; his mother Nora B. Thurgood;
his brothers David (Carma), Bryan (Jeanette); Sisters Kristy (Lyle), Ruth Ann (Kelly),
Nancy (Jim), and Luci (Russell); and his granddaughter Kaylee Jarrett.
Lee was preceded in death by his father Allen Stephens. Lee was truly a wonderful loving
husband and father and our hearts ache with his loss. We love you with all our heart.
Funeral Services will be held at the Bountiful 5th Ward 990 North 100 West in Bountiful
on Friday May 24 at 1:00 p.m. with a viewing from 11:30 - 12:45 prior to services.
Published in Deseret News on May 23, 2013
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