July 2026 | Vol. 26 Iss. 7
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Sandy residents make bucket-list dreams come true By Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com At age 84, Ken Sugden was able to go on the ride of his life.
S
andy residents joined forces to make 84-year-old resident Ken Sugden’s bucket list dream come true. Sugden is a lifelong gearhead. Described as a “local boy,” he attended West High School in Salt Lake City. He grew up in, what was at the time, the greater Salt Lake County area. “He’s been obsessed with cars since he was little,” said his daughter, Clodine Hatch. After high school, he served a mission
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was during his time in Austria he met his wife, Heidi, who understands more than six languages. She learned Latin while in school in Austria, is a fluent speaker of German, French and English, and knows conversational Portuguese and Spanish. The two of them would spend years living and traveling throughout Europe. After moving back to Utah, the couple began their family. Heidi was working as a genealogist for the Latter-Day Saint Family History Library and she still spends her time volunteering there today. That time in Europe though was
Ken Sugden, 84, always wanted a Porsche. On June 4, resident Steve Smith was able to drive him through the Cottonwood Canyons in his dream car. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)
influential for Sugden. “He fell in love with German cars,” Hatch said. The first vehicle Hatch drove around town when she got her license was Sugden’s old 1978 Volkswagen Bus. “I had a Volkswagen I enjoyed driving but I always wished to have a Porsche,” Sugden said. When Sugden turned 70, his family took him down to Las Vegas for a Supercar Driving Experience. According to Hatch, that didn’t quite scratch his Porsche itch. As Sugden grew older, he struggled losing his ability to drive with the decline of his fine motor skills. Now a resident at Sunrise Senior Living (2130 E. 9400 South), he’s never lost sight of being in a Porsche. Katie Matthews, his aide at Sunrise, asks him every night if there’s anything else she can get him before heading home and off to bed. “He always says: a two-door Porsche,” Matthews said. So, Matthews accommodated. She found a red dye-cast version of a two-door Porsche to gift him. Sugden quickly found a home for the box car next to his bed, where it stays permanently. Seeing his reaction, Matthews wanted to do even more for Sugden. She knew some members of the Sunrise Senior Living team had some personal connections. Sandy resident Steve Smith is the owner of a 1995 convertible 911 Porsche. Together, Matthews, the Sunrise Senior Living Team and Smith were able to orchestrate a bucket-list moment for Sugden. On June 4, Smith pulled up in this Porsche to take Sugden on a ride up the canyons.
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ChadlersPlumbing.com “I am very thankful to those who made my dream come true,” Sugden said. “It was a wonderful experience to drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon in a convertible Porsche.” l
Sunrise Living employee Katie Matthews and Sandy resident Steve Smith were in cahoots to make Ken Sugden’s bucket-list dream of driving in a Porsche come true. (Cassie Goff/ City Journals)