Nalani Hayward Sterr Obituary (1959 - 2016)

Nalani Hayward Sterr returned to her Father in Heaven on October 16, 2016 after valiantly battling many years of autoimmune diseases including Type One Diabetes and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Nalani was born June 8, 1959 to Reid and Yvonne Hayward in Murray, Utah. She graduated from Evergreen High School (Vancouver, Washington) in June 1977, and three weeks later on July 1, married Gene Edward Sterr in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. They were married for 27 years and had three beautiful children: Elizabeth (Russ) Norman, Joseph (Becky) Sterr, and Westley (Krystal) Sterr. They raised their children in Brigham City, Utah, and in 2003, divorced. Her proudest accomplishments in life were her children, grandchildren, and her passion for family history work. Nalani tried to be a stay at home mom when circumstances permitted, and found many ways to help with income, including most recently working at Wal-Mart for nearly 16 years. Nalani struggled with her health for many years, but made sure everyone who cared for her knew she had to get back to her grandkids, including Iris, who she lived with and took special care of for several years. Nalani was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings – most were with the young children in nursery & primary, or teaching about genealogy and family history work, helping find thousands of family members for herself and others. Nalani was always willing to do anything to help anyone, and went out of her way to do so often. She taught her children the value of working hard, and always doing whatever it took to serve others. She was extremely creative, and enjoyed oil painting, scrapbooking, creating her own patterns and sewing. She made flower arrangements & special cakes for her children's weddings and other occasions. She was preceded in death by her father, Frank Reid Hayward, and is survived by her mother Yvonne Hayward (Boehme), her siblings, Don (Brenda) Hayward, Neal Hayward, Ruth Ann (Marvin) Reep, and Annette (Jeff) Miles, her children Liz (Russ) Norman, Joe (Becky) Sterr, and Wes (Krystal) Sterr, and grandchildren Kendra (18), Ryan (18), Brock (17), Ashleigh (16), Iris (14), Jasmine (13) Kandice (9) and Mackenzie (9). Funeral services will be held on Friday October 21, 2016 at 1:00 PM at the Country Park 8th Ward, 1988 West 11400 South, South Jordan, Utah. Viewings will be held Thursday, October 20, 2016 from 6:00-8:00 PM at Jenkins-Soffe South Valley, 1007 W. South Jordan Parkway, South Jordan, Utah and on Friday from 12:00-12:45 pm at the church. Per Nalani's request, she will be cremated following the funeral services. Funeral Home: Jenkins-Soffe South Valley 1007 W. South Jordan Parkway South Jordan, UT