Hannah Kristine Baxter, our first love and everlasting light, was born on June 20, 2003, in Provo, Utah. She died on January 3, 2024, shortly after a tragic car accident near Logan, Utah. She was driving home after spending a joyful and healing New Year weekend with her Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bruce and much-loved cousins in Rexburg, Idaho. We are so devastated and deeply hurt by her loss. We are also mindful of and send our love to all others impacted by this accident. We want to thank, with deepest gratitude, the police officers, first responders, nurses, doctors, and donor teams at Logan Regional Hospital, McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden, and Intermountain in Murray for their tender care of our beautiful girl. Their professionalism and grace have helped our family begin a beautiful closure of Hannah's life.

Hannah was so loved in life, and is mourned in death, by her mother, Joelle, her father, Stevan, and her two brothers, Rex and Ben. Hannah was a beloved daughter, sister, niece, cousin, and granddaughter born of two amazing, close, and strong families who loved her fiercely for her independent and generous spirit. Hannah lit up every room she entered and loved nothing more than being with her family. The Baxters and Sparks were and will always be her people.

Hannah entered our world on a ray of sunshine. She left us on a moonbeam. She was the first granddaughter born on the Sparks side and the sixteenth grandchild on the Baxter side but first born after her Grandma Baxter died in a similar accident. She carried that sunshine, love, and healing with her from the moment she landed on earth. Hannah was a precocious child with Shirley Temple blond curls, a big smile, a love of wearing crazy outfits to school and playing dress-up. She was so incredibly cute in the dresses Joelle sewed for her. From an early age, she loved snuggling in with her Mom and Dad, her cat Skitters, or her Aunts MaurLo and Tellie (and every other aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandparent) to read a book together. This culminated in Hannah and Joelle snuggling in at night during her high school years to read Les Misérables together. Reading and learning were a central part of Hannah's character.

Hannah was a voracious and varied reader. She loved James Herriott (her inspiration to be a veterinarian), her Mitford Series, Wendell Berry, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson (Riordan), Wallace Stegner, Dostoevsky, autobiographies of people she loved (shout out to Dolly Parton and Brandi Carlile), anything Brandon Sanderson, Agatha Christie, books about causes (she loved causes) and everything in between. The fact of the matter is Hannah read so many books we could not keep up with her. No one could. She read everywhere. On the rock-climbing wall, in the car, in a tree, in the pool, while hiking through Zion National Park. As a child, Hannah was often told to stop reading and get outside! When Joelle would send Hannah outside, she would ride her bike down the sidewalk and around the corner to the Solomon's house before stopping and reading while still sitting on her bike. Her favorite book was The Book of Joy written by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. That was fitting. Hannah found great joy in discussing books (most recently The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor) and introducing her friends and loved ones to great literature. Hannah was always excited when her Nana would deliver a new book for her to read. True to form, it would be finished in a few hours, and she would be off looking for another one. She just renewed her library card on Friday.

Hannah was a very talented student—extremely driven and fiercely competitive with grades. School was her competitive playing field and she loved to compete academically. She graduated from Jordan High School with high honors and was joyfully attending Utah State University in the honors program where she focused her studies on Veterinary Science with minors in French, Biology, and Yoga. She loved her classmates and professors and was looking forward to the final semester of her junior year starting next week. She aspired to be a large animal vet. We are so grateful she was able to participate in a study abroad summer semester in France this year and Joelle was able to fly over to pick her up and spend her 20th birthday on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Hannah loved family and being with her family. She was an example to her brothers. A confidant to Rex and Ben's personal defender. She was understanding. She loved her brothers with a fierce love. She loved adventuring with them. We have such beautiful memories of our family Christmas trips to Disneyland, Seattle, Taiwan, New York, Washington D.C., Napa, and Idaho to spend time with loved family, to visit Lake Tahoe, France, Iceland, Mexico, and to spend Christmas with dear friends in Japan. Hannah was so looking forward to this year's Christmas trip to Puerto Rico. We will miss her so much. Hannah was blessed with opportunities to travel to China with Vivace, her violin group, and to France and Belgium with her parents and her friends, the Smiths. She also solo traveled to Slovenia to see her dear friend Sydney on her mission, then on to Croatia before arriving in France for her study abroad classes. We are so grateful she was able to see and experience so much of the world in her short 20 years of life.

In her last long and just the best lunch with her Dad on Friday she said that even with her wanderlust, she couldn't settle too far from her Mountain West home because she feared missing out on family and family events. She was happiest snuggled up with her cousins or racing them to the water at Baxter family reunions, or adventuring with her Nana, Aunt Telly, and Sparks cousins at Lake Tahoe. She was a good listener and conversationalist and was often found in deep conversation with both her littlest of cousins and the adults. She was smart as a whip, asked unique questions (How is your soul today?), and felt positions deeply and passionately. She was an understanding and compassionate soul, especially toward those who felt marginalized or disadvantaged. That is a special trait she carries from her Grandma Baxter and Aunt Jenifer. Hannah was a passionate advocate for her LGBTQ+ community, the environment, the power of women, and for any individual that needed her. At her core, Hannah cared about people and believed that everyone should be able to live their life the way that made them happy, and everyone should try to treat the people around them with humanity and empathy. Even when she disagreed with someone she would always say "love and light to them!"

Hannah was a trailblazer for her family. Bold and unabashed and always herself. A living juxtaposition. Quintessentially Hannah. An adventuring soul who loved nature and every living thing. She was always up for an adventure and had a special gift of bringing magic to the mundane. She loved people, animals, and the plants that give us life and beauty—especially potatoes. Always and unapologetically potatoes. She loved nature so much she had it tattooed on her arm and leg so she could carry it wherever she went. The nurses and doctors commented on how beautiful her tattoos were (they are beautiful!) and Hannah would have loved that. Nature fed her soul. She particularly loved visiting her Grandpa Baxter and cousins' homes in Idaho for cross-country ski trips, rambling around the family property near Zion National Park with her dog Robbie, and camping at Lake Tahoe with her Sparks family.

Hannah loved music. She started playing the violin in kindergarten and played until she broke her wrist in high school. She hated practicing, as her teachers can attest, but would buckle down if Dad pulled out his violin and practiced with her. We loved the music she filled our home with. As she grew older, her taste in music was like her taste in books—varied and beautiful (most of the time). Brandi Carlile, Dolly Parton, Old Crow Medicine Show, ABBA, folk music, classical music, jazz, Pink Martini, Elton John, Mandolin Orange, Hozier, the Carter Family, and Johnny Cash. She could also listen to and enjoy music that would make her parents blush.

Hannah was blessed by a tremendous group of friends and roommates who stood by her side, loved her, and protected her. As many as were able made sure to be with her in the hospital expressing their love for her as she passed. She adventured with her friends and was a favorite adventure buddy for many. Rappelling and hiking the beautiful canyons in Zion with Tiana and the Goodrich family, camping in her beloved Bells Canyon and summiting Wheeler Peak with her childhood friends Bug (Sarah) and Sydney. Senior road-tripping to Montana with her boyfriend Nate, and to California with her dear friends Ashlen, Adaar, Bug, Sydney, Caleb, and Nate. Living the Aggie magic at USU with her cousins, special roommates (each one of you), and friends from the Honors Program.

We are grateful for the small moments, every memory, each smile. We love you Hannah, with all of our hearts and souls. We are so, so proud of you. We are eternally grateful for you. Rest in peace, Sweetheart.

Hannah is predeceased by her great-grandmother and dear Nanny, Mary Comendant, two grandmothers Kristine Comendant and Ellen Baxter, her baby sister Olivia Ellen Baxter, and her best friend and dog Robbie, whose ashes will be buried with her. Hannah is survived by her parents and brothers, her Nana and Grandpa Sparky, her Grandpa Baxter, and dozens and dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who love her so much and are heartbroken at her loss. She would also want us to recognize her beloved cat Skitters, and her "boys" Huckleberry Finn and Apollo, who adored her and healed her broken heart.

It is important for us to express our love and gratitude to our families and friends. To Jenifer who is our emergency responder, family protector, and safe house around the corner, we love you and are grateful for you. To Bruce and Debbie who protected and loved Hannah in her last weekend, thank you for being such a steady and protective presence in our lives. To each one of our siblings and their spouses and our parents who responded immediately to come wrap their arms around us in love and protection, to each of our friends who immediately appeared on our doorstep with strong hugs and shared tears, we are so blessed and lucky to have each one of you in our lives. Thank you for being here with us in our grief. We love you and are grateful for you.

Memorial contributions can be in Hannah's memory to the Purple Leash Project at: https://redrover.org/the-purple-leash-project/?form=plp

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 10, at the Granite View Stake Center, 9880 South 3100 East, Sandy, UT 84092.  The family will receive friends and family Tuesday, January 9 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Wednesday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., both times at the stake center.

Hannah Baxter Funeral Program

Services will be livestreamed at: https://my.gather.app/remember/hannah-baxter

BAXTER FAMILY DEFIES GRAVITY!!

https://youtu.be/WazJHszz-mE?si=pg5pnr3Y6_GH8CoV

Second view: https://my.gather.app/remember/hannah-baxter-second-camera