Rendell N. Mabey Jr.

Rendell N. Mabey, Jr. passed away on June 26, 2026, at home with Dororthy A. Roser Mabey, his great love and wife of 64 years at his side. Ren’s family and friends remember him for his great compassion, kindness, generosity, humor, and unquenchable curiosity. Ren never met a person or idea that didn’t interest him.

Ren was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Rendell N. Mabey and Rachel Ivins Wilson Mabey, the first of six children. As a boy, he loved spending time outdoors with his father, camping and hiking in the wilderness and exploring the foothills above the valley. As he grew, his exceptional intellect and curiosity battled with convention and didn’t always translate into being the best student. He received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to enter the University of Utah after his junior year in high school and then took ten years to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree, interrupting his studies to serve in the US Army, explore a calling to the Roman Catholic priesthood at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, report for the Salt Lake Tribune, and fall in love with and marry Dorothy Roser. He later earned a doctorate in Philosophy from Harvard University, with a focus on religious philosophy, ethics, and logic.

Ren spent his career as a college professor in California, Virginia and New Jersey, teaching philosophy and helping young people discover wonder in the world. He was a gifted and memorable teacher, drawing out questions and igniting curiosity in his students, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends. Ren was a stalwart defender of human rights, freedom of expression, social justice, and peace. An idealist, he believed that the best version of our world and political systems was possible. Together with Dorothy, he never stopped dedicating his time and energy to promoting peace and human rights, more than once getting into a little trouble.

He loved every expression of human creativity: poetry, film, visual arts, music, architecture, fiction, science, and religion. He enjoyed sharing this love with anyone who paid attention. He had the ability to make the most obtuse sculpture or dissonant piece of jazz accessible. Some of his big loves were Mozart, Coltrane, Beiderbecke, Flaubert, Auden, Yeats, Beckett, Joyce, Cezanne, Calder, Corbusier, Keaton, Ozu, Aristotle, and Wittgenstein – but he was amazed by it all. After retirement and returning to Utah, one of his great joys was time spent in video calls and email discussions of life, art, and big ideas organized with his brothers and friends. In recent years, he created community around film, organizing movie nights for neighbors in his building. He spent several years trying to discover the best movie of all time and concluded it must be “Singing in the Rain.”

Above all, Ren is remembered as a true friend, supportive and accepting father, proud grandfather, and loving husband.

Survived by Dorothy Mabey, his best friend, companion, and beloved wife; son Rendell Charles; daughters Sarah Elizabeth (Chris Szell) and Ida Person; grandchildren Sonja Person; Leah Mabey Robles (Carlos), Aaron Mabey, and Adia Szell; brothers Ralph (Sylvia) and Tom (Shauna); and Roser sisters- and brothers-in-law and many wonderful nieces and nephews and their children. Preceded in death by parents Rendell N. Mabey and Rachel Ivins Mabey; brothers John and Richard; and sister, Jane.