Heidi's Obituary

Heidi Black Wright

July 11, 1977 – April 24, 2012

Heidi peacefully passed away in the early morning hours of April 24, 2012 at the age of 34, eventually succumbing to the effects of breast cancer she had battled in her body and in her brain for over 4 ½ years. She fought long and hard, living each minute to its fullest clear to the end.

Heidi was born July 11, 1977 in Livermore, CA.  She is the oldest of four children and spent her entire childhood in Livermore.  Heidi graduated from Granada High School in 1995.  She studied Early Childhood Education at Brigham Young University where she met her soon-to-be husband, Scott Wright. They were sealed for time and all eternity on October 11, 1997 in the Oakland, California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After they completed their degrees, they moved to Northern California and began to raise their family, first in Mountain View and then in Elk Grove. Her family moved to Centerville, UT in 2009. Heidi first and foremost saw herself as a mother to their four children. She dedicated everything she could to nurturing, teaching, caring for, and instilling principles of faith into her children and those of her community.

Heidi had an extreme passion for life. Heidi came to earth with a joy for life and a love of living.  She radiated light and her smile was contagious.  Her kind heart loved to serve and she enjoyed being on the go, always busy and always involved.  She loved people, her family and friends, and had an amazing supply of energy.  She was comfortable in the limelight and courageous in taking on new adventures.  Heidi loved to organize and was a hard worker.  Being with friends always brought her joy.  She loved being a big sister and was a wonderful help to her parents.  She was drawn to music and dance and loved to create with her hands.  Her sensitivity of spirit gave her insight into people and situations, and her friendly nature drew others to her.  Throughout her childhood, her faith grew and she developed a deep love for her Savior Jesus Christ.

Heidi’s favorite pastimes included: scrapbooking and making decorative cards as a demonstrator for Stampin’Up; immersing herself into the world and fantasy of Disney; frequent temple attendance; and talking with loved ones for hours on end.

Heidi leaves behind her husband of 14 years, Scott, their children, Kaylie, Cameron, Dallyn, and Kyler, parents, Ken and Janelle Black, siblings, Amy Randall (Austin), Ryan Black (Laura), and Jason Black, grandparents Val Black and Elwyn and Janet Ralph, and numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

Funeral and viewing services will be held at the LDS Church building at 950 N. Main St. in Centerville, UT on Monday April 30^th. Viewing times will be from 9:00am to 10:30am. The funeral service will begin at 11am followed by a grave side gathering at the Centerville Cemetery. Online guestbook at www.russonmortuary.com.

To make the day memorable, reflective and focused on things that matter most, the kids and I took the early part of Tuesday, after saying good-bye to Mom, and spent the morning together. After a fun breakfast at I-Hop, we spent a number of hours at Temple Square.

Heidi's Funeral Memorial Service

Heidi's Family will be holding Funeral Memorial and Viewing services at the LDS Church building at 950 N. Main St. in Centerville, UT on Monday April 30^th. Viewing times will be from 9:00am to 10:30am. The funeral service will begin at 11am followed by a grave side gathering at the Centerville Cemetery. All are welcome to join us, and in typical Heidi fashion, the more the merrier. If you plan to come in from out of town to attend the service, we would love to know. There is also an online guestbook and some additional information at www.russonmortuary.com.

Heidi’s final voyage:

The past few weeks have been mostly cold, dreary and melancholy in Utah. For those of us following Heidi’s slow decline, the weather has matched our moods most of the time. This morning though, the sun rose bright and clear, adding a bit of sunshine to our souls to support us through a tough day. Today, Tuesday April 24, 2012, at about 3:30 in the morning Heidi, comfortably situated in her bed, with her husband and parents around her, slowly let out her last breath and moved on to a much better place. Today my best friend and forever companion finally let go and gave up the battle she had waged so long and so hard. The photo below, of a tile she bought in Mexico on a Disney cruise our family recently took there, I feel is very fitting as we, much like Mickey, wave good bye to dear friend who sails away to rest, peace and happiness. We will miss her dearly but rejoice in the wonderful time and memories we have had with her.

Heidi’s last few days were spent in almost entire peace and comfort. Most of her final 48 hours she was in a deep comatose sleep. She lasted much longer than the doctors expected over her final time, so Heidi, fighting til the very end. Thank you to everyone who has and does continue to support Heidi and our family through this challenging and rewarding journey we have been on. Our bubbly Heidi has cherished your friendships as some of her most prized possessions.

For those who would like to celebrate Heidi’s life with us, and she, like us, would like as many as who desire to be there to join us, we will be holding a funeral service Monday morning April 30^th in Centerville, Utah, to remember and rejoice over the wonderful life of a remarkable women. More detail about this service will be posted in the coming days.

Love,

The Wrights

Heidi Thursday April 19th

It has been a week complete since the Doctors appointed 48 hours in which Heidi should have passed, yet Heidi continues to fight on. Her decline continues at the same rate it has been for the past week, more and more weak, more and more fatigued, and less and less coherent and alert. Today marked the first day she really had no time of full alertness and coherency, a lot of semi-conscious time and communication, but never fully alert. There are other signs that the body is in the process of shutting down as well. We are so grateful she remains comfortable and in no physical pain. She has fought such a noble and courageous war and we will miss her dearly.

Heidi's Condition, Tuesday April 17th

Over the past two days we have continued to witness a slow decline in Heidi. We have cherished the amount of time she is awake and alert, but have noticed that time continually become less and less, with lower levels of awareness. Given the decline we have experienced today, I do not belive there will be a lot more interaction with her before she passes. We are grateful to the doctors and hospice staff that have made her so comfortable. Though it is sad to see our vivacious Heidi in such a sedated state, we are glad she is not in pain or discomfort.

Ward Young Women's Service Project

We had a wonderful service done for our family yesterday morning. Braving cold, raining and muddy conditions, our Ward Young Women's organization came and cleaned out our flower beds, put in new mulch and planted some beautiful spring flowers. At a time where Heidi has little to smile about, hearing and seeing, via pictures, what was done, brought her a lot of happiness. Thank you Briarwood Young Women.

Mud Monsters

Kyler and his good friend Carter decided dirt and mud were too much fun to be left alone. I guess this is what happens when Mom is sick in bed and Dad is not used to keeping a watchful eye on mischievous 5 year-olds.

April 15th Heidi Update

Beyond all expectations and explanations of the medical field, Heidi is still among us and continues to fight on. She continues to decline in her health and mental alertness, but all that energy she has had throughout her life is now doing all it can to keep her fighting. Though she has not gotten as bad as fast as the doctors expected, she is following the typical pattern of decline, albeit much slower than usual. Her decline could continue for another 4 to 7 days. We are very grateful for this additional blessing of more time with her and she continues to enjoy messages (texts, emails, comments, etc) from her friends and family to brighten her days.

Update on Heidi

Since the last update we sent on Heidi’s health, about two weeks ago, her health has experienced a steady decline. All of the problems she has had in the past have become much worse, she has also become very very weak and is not in a comfortable situation. Nothing is worse than we expected, though it has all happened much quicker than we thought it would. For the past week we have been preparing to lose her in the very near future. Today her doctors informed us she has contracted aspiration pneumonia and her body is too weak to fight it off, even with the assistance of antibiotics and medication. If she follows the normal patterns she will likely depart this world in the next 24 to 72 hours. She remains at peace with the situation and the doctors have ensured she is as comfortable as possible.

Again, we thank you so much for your love, support, prayers and thoughts. We are also grateful to everyone respecting Heidi’s desire to spend as much time with her family as possible and thus giving us space and privacy during this tough time.

Thanks,

Scott & Heidi Wright

My new niece katie

Hayley

Bella and Abby

Goofy Boy

Kyler at Disneyland

Wright Family

Auntie Heidi Loves These girls!!

 Amy's Girls meeting Minnie Mouse so excited!!! Wearing hats from Auntie...they were so happy!!!

 Dallyn with Abby...having so much fun at Toon Town!!

Disneyland

Here I am at Disneyland with my new neice Katie, this is the first photo of us together. She is darling!! Regulating my temp has been really hard the past week and so I look like I am ready for a blizzard in the middle of CA, but thats just how it was!!

Next is our great family photo...it was awesome being there with all of my family, my parents and all my siblings and their families. That was a wish I had always had and too bad it had to be under such crazy circumstances, but so it was. However, I love Disneyland and the happiness there is there. I like all things Disney and how it brings happiness to your life.

Here are the girls on the merry go round together...Heidi style these days..so not fun..u should have seen me trying to get out of the wheelchair to even get on the ride...oh what a sight!!Can't miss dumbo and yes that feeding tube in my nose took some getting used to but nothing was as painful as getting it inserted...yikes..that was bad news!! Being healthy is better everyone!

DisneyLand

It was so great to be together with family at Disneyland for a few days even though I was so sick. Something is going on weird with my photos and this change on blogger...gr...why are they changing things now just when Scott is going to take over the blog. I will try to get these on to the blog.