Hazel

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Hazel ***** died peacefully in her home of natural causes Saturday, June 9. She was surrounded by her loving family. Hazel was 91.

Hazel was born on February 27, 1921, to Ruben ******* ********* and Blonda ****** ***** ********* in Scipio, UT. She was preceded in death by both of her parents and five of her siblings.

Hazel married Ronald **** ********* October 28, 1939. They had three beautiful daughters. Ronald died in August 1977. She married Gordon ***** in November 1978. He died in October 1997.

Hazel worked hard all her life. She especially enjoyed taking care of the newborn babies at South Davis Hospital. She also labored in her gardens, cultivating hundreds of beautiful flowers.

She was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose greatest joy was her children and grandchildren. She loved exchanging cards and letters with them and never missed a birthday.

Hazel is survived by Colleen (Larry) ****** of Bountiful; Jill (Joe) ***** of Layton; Kosann (Larry) ******* of Orem; 12 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren; one sister and four brothers.

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Our dear friend and neighbor, Hazel, passed away last Saturday.

We had taken over my Mom's weekly visits to her when my parents left on their mission.

We loved our visits to see Hazel and we are so grateful for the time we had with her.

She was so sweet to us and always told us that she loves us... and we would tell her how much we love her.
When we would go and visit her, Aaron loved to play with her dog named Lady.
Lady really loves Aaron as well. Lady was a great friend to Hazel for many years.

These flowers above are some flowers she gave to my mom from her yard so my mom could plant them in her yard, they now grow beautifully each year next to my parents house.

 Speaking of flowers, a couple of weeks before Hazel passed away, we took my camera over to take some photos of Hazel's beautiful flowers in her yard. She loved her flowers and she was so proud of them. Here are some of her flowers.

 Aaron had become very thoughtful of her...
the week of Mother's Day, he asked if we could get Hazel a Mother's Day gift.
Of course that was a great idea, so we went and picked out something beautiful for her.
I wish this wasn't so blurry, but this is the Mother's Day gift we gave to Hazel.
It was a beautiful butterfly on a pole that was to put in a flower pot and the butterfly wings are on springs which make it so the butterfly wings look like they are fluttering.
Haze loved it. She kept it in a vase on her kitchen table.

The day before Hazel passed away, Aaron was making a bracelet out of beads with his cousin, when he finished his, he asked if he could make a bracelet for Hazel.
So he made one for Hazel and he was able to give it to her the day before she passed away.

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Hazel had asked my mom to speak at her funeral and had wanted my dad to sing...

since they are gone, they asked that my mom write some things down and for me to read it at the service. They also had some of my family sing the song "Each Life That Touches Ours For Good".

It went well and it was an honor to participate in the service.

I wanted to put my Mom's words about Hazel here:

Thoughts and memories of my dear friend, Hazel Diehl. By Karen Higginson June 11, 2012

In August of 2007, Lynn and I returned home from serving a mission in Canada. It seems that it was my very first Sunday back, when I was approached by a very inspired Relief Society President. She asked me if I would be willing to visit Sister Hazel Diehl each Sunday and share the Relief Society lessons with her. I accepted, and this began a long and wonderful friendship with Hazel. Except for my family, Hazel is the dearest friend I have and I love her dearly. I cannot imagine her not being next door to us. We have been neighbors for 25 years. Lynn has been her Home Teacher for 15 years, with 3 or 4 of our sons as his companion. We were there to support her when Gordon passed away. We loved having Gordon and Hazel as our neighbors. They were friendly and kind and neighborly in the old fashioned sense of the word. We didn’t have to make an appointment to visit. And we enjoyed visiting “over the fence” if we were outside. Each time one of our children left to serve a mission, there was always a card with some money to help them prepare. They were our friends.

Hazel was a little cautious when we first started our weekly meetings together, but before long we were both looking forward to our visits. I have been her teacher/friend/student every week for nearly 5 years. She taught me so much as we talked about the gospel. She asked me questions that I often had to research to give her the answer. She was a deep thinker and she knew the gospel so well. We shared so much of our life with each other. We shared laughter, tears, lessons, health concerns, news of families, and so much more. Sometimes we just talked. She was always interested in my family and how they were doing, and she was anxious to share news of her family; her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Whenever she got a new photo of a family member, she quickly pointed it out to me. Her family was the smartest and the best and the cutest. She was a typical mother and grandmother. Proud of her posterity.

Hazel loved her flowers. She was a “master gardener.” I loved to look across the fence and see all of the beautiful flowers she had nurtured. I was always excited when some of them spilled across the fence into our yard. I would say to her, “Hazel, do you care if I cut some of your flowers that are on my side of the fence?” Her response would be, “Take all you want and then if you need more, come over here and get them.” I know she thought I was a little strange for asking. But to me, they were Hazel’s beautiful flowers. She had a green thumb like my Mom had. They could both get any kind of flower to grow and they loved them.

Every time we visited, Sundays or on other days, we always hugged and said “I love you” when we parted. I know Hazel appreciated me for coming, I just hope she knew how much I enjoyed our visits. I always told her it was my pleasure. She never wanted to impose on anybody, and I assured her that it was not an imposition on me. I was there most Sundays when the priests brought her the Sacrament. I knew it was a sacred time for her. She always placed a beautiful white cloth on the table on which the priests would place the sacrament. And she always thanked them and told them how much she appreciated them for bringing it to her. At times she would give them a little gift.

When I made gifts for my children and grandchildren, I always took them over to show Hazel. I wanted to share them with her and she would tell me about the days when she had been able to sew for her family and also donate to good causes. She lamented that she couldn’t do that anymore. I tried to remind her that “there is a time and a season” for everything in our lives. But she wished she could do more. Just be my friend and take care of yourself, I would say to her.

She loved her dog and her birds. She always insisted that Lady go in a different room when we visited, so she wouldn’t jump up on me. But, I didn't mind Lady and what a wonderful friend and comfort she was to Hazel. Many times she told me that when her birds saw me coming to the door, they would say, “Mrs. Higginson, Mrs. Higginson, over and over.” She was very thrilled about that. It was so cute.

We talked about politics and history. I had received a book called “Seven Miracles That Saved America.” It was so interesting and I knew Hazel would love it. So, whenever I had read a new chapter, I went would go next door to share it with Hazel. She enjoyed it so much that she bought the book. Sadly, we never finished our discussions of the book before we left on this mission, but the plan was to finish it when I returned.

I was privileged to drive Hazel to the stake center a couple of times so she could get her temple recommend renewed. She knew the importance of having a current temple recommend, even if her health wouldn’t allow her to attend the temple. One Sunday, in the fall of 2009, as I was giving Hazel the Relief Society lesson about temple sealings, something prompted me to ask Hazel if her family had been sealed in the temple. I was kind of surprised at myself because I knew she had a recommend. Hazel told me she had not been sealed to her family and it was her deepest desire to have her daughters sealed to her. We talked about this a few times and then it was arranged. It was a great privilege for Lynn and me to attend the temple with Hazel and her family as they were sealed together, January 8, 2010. Hazel was so happy and many times she talked about that wonderful day and the feeling of peace that she now felt. THE GOSPEL DOES NOT PRODUCE IT’S POTENTIAL FOR HAPPINESS UNTIL FAMILIES ARE SEALED. WE ARE SO THANKFUL THAT HAZEL REALIZED HER DREAM OF HAVING HER DAUGHTERS SEALED TO HER BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY.

At 2:32 p.m. Utah time, on Saturday, June 9, 2012, we received a phone call from Leslie letting us know that Hazel passed away about 50 minutes earlier. We were heartbroken. We didn’t want her to suffer, and at the same time we are so sad to think of her not being there when we return home from this mission. But, I had a “tender mercy” from Heavenly Father. I called Hazel and I am grateful that when I talked to her that week before she passed away, she was totally coherent and we had a very nice conversation. In part, I told her we were very worried about her. In her usual Hazel way, she said, “I don’t want you worrying about me; you just take care of the things you are there to do and I will see you when you get home.” She told me how much she loved and appreciated Leslie and Aaron for their constant visits after we left. She said she loves them very much. We expressed love to each other and said we missed each other. It was so nice to hear her voice and she sounded so strong and well, that we were shocked that she lost ground so fast after that. I am so grateful Leslie and Aaron were so faithful in visiting with her. Each day, as we checked in with Leslie, our hearts grew heavier as the news was less and less hopeful. There is a quote that says, “The best of friends must part.” Fortunately, we know that this parting is for a short time. I know we will see our friend, Hazel, again. For that knowledge, I am truly grateful. So, God be with you, Hazel, until we meet again, on the other side of the veil. We love you.

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Aaron and Hazel on her birthday at the end of February 2012.

She turned 91 years old that day.

A couple of days ago, I was in the kitchen and I said, "I miss Hazel".

Then Aaron got serious and somber and said, "Me too, she's the best old person I have ever met. Its heartbroken. I wish her son could bring her to my game."

When he said 'its heartbroken', I am pretty sure he meant that he is heartbroken... he has heard me say that about sad things and he said it in his cute child like way. What a sweet boy.

We will miss Hazel.

We had some special visits with her.
She is a very special and loving person.

We love her and we are grateful for the blessing of her friendship.

We really really really miss her.

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