Laura Pexton

Laura Ann Pexton
1973 - 2018

Cottonwood Heights, UT - Our beloved Laura died May 28, 2018 after a valiant 17 year battle with breast cancer. She was born in Powell, Wyoming May 2, 1973, to Charles Franklin Leach and Sandra Kay Rich. Laura married Jonathan Robert Pexton, August 25, 1994 in Salt Lake City. They spent half of their married life living in the San Francisco Bay Area before returning to Salt Lake City in 2008. They are the proud parents of Sydney Patricia Pexton.

Laura was a nurse practitioner with a master’s degree in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a doctorate degree in nursing from the University of Utah. She worked for 12 years at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, in Palo Alto, CA.

She started volunteering as a candy striper in a rural hospital at age 12 and has continued her volunteer service ever since. She has travelled to over 45 countries, including 11 international humanitarian missions to Russia, Kenya, China, Peru, Ethiopia, Vietnam, India, and Senegal with Operation Smile and IVUmed. She volunteered locally with non-profit organizations, PJ’s Forgotten Children, The Komen Foundation, Utah Partners for Health, and The Cancer Wellness House. Laura was a nationally trained peer counselor for women with breast cancer. She was also a supporter of Camp Kesem, an active community supporting children through and after their parent’s cancer. Her happiest times were when she was in a far off place with few of the comforts of home, taking care of people in less fortunate circumstances.

Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, at age 28, only a few months after her daughter was born. At age 31 she was devastated to learn the cancer had spread throughout her bones. Defying the odds, Laura lived 17 years after her initial diagnosis refusing to let cancer limit her ability to serve others and pursue her doctorate degree. She wrote the book Miracles of Service, about her service missions around the world and her journey battling cancer.

Funeral services will be Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 11 am, at the Brighton 2nd Ward LDS Chapel, 2925 Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121.  Friends may call at the Brighton LDS Stake Center, 2895 E Creek Rd (8115 S), Sandy, UT 84093 on Friday, June 1, 2018 from 6 pm to 8 pm, and one hour prior at the place of service.