Heidi Halliday Clark

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and cherished wife, Heidi Halliday Clark, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, May 8, 2021, surrounded by her family.

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Heidi was born June 1, 1947, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Max and Marilyn Halliday. As the daughter of a Marine Corps Brigadier General, she spent her childhood years in Utah, California, and Hawaii. After graduating from Tustin High School in Southern California she returned to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah. She joined the Chi Omega sorority, played on the women’s tennis team, and began dating a handsome football player named Bob Clark. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, and on June 7, 1969, she was sealed to Bob for eternity in the Laie Temple. They were blessed with seven children, nineteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Grandma “Dede” cherished the time she spent with her family and maintained a close relationship with her children throughout her life.

Heidi was incredibly open and warm with everyone she worked with and endeared herself to many with her humor, spunk and genuine friendship. She was also an incredibly dedicated and hard worker. While raising six children, she spent countless hours volunteering as a room mother, a tutor, cookie maker, an entrepreneur, a teacher’s assistant, and a volunteer for the PTA. When her youngest was in the third grade, she began working for the Salt Lake City School District—first at Bryant Intermediate, then West High School, and eventually the main district office in the Community Education Department. Using her creativity, ingenuity, and love for finding solutions to challenges, she went on to create the After School Programs throughout the district. Her self-taught skill in writing secured numerous funding grants that provided educational programs for the district that positively impacted countless lives. In 1995, she received an educational excellence award in Washington, DC at the White House from President Clinton and Vice President Gore. Yet the most important achievements to her were the lasting impact she had on the children's lives she was able to help, guide, and improve. She retired from the Salt Lake City School District in 2017 after 25 years of faithful service.

Heidi had a deep and abiding love for the Savior and exemplified His life in the way she reached out to so many around her. She was a valiant servant and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served in many callings throughout her life. She faithfully served as a Primary President on several occasions, in Relief Society presidencies in several wards, as Young Women’s President on both the ward and stake level, and as a service missionary for the Salt Lake City Inner-City Mission for over 15 years. Her compassion and love helped so many feel the love of God in their lives when it was needed the most. Heidi’s courage and resilience showed us that life’s challenges should be met head-on with hope and optimism and that even the most insurmountable trials could be faced with your head held high. Her lesson to us was that life was meant to be lived and not simply endured.

She is survived by her husband and dearest love of 52 years, Robert Clark; daughters, Kelly (Gary) Facer, Heather (Nate) Swain, Lisa (Greg) Marks, Jaime Clark, Steffanie (RL) Ellis, Rob (Emily) Clark, Jr.; her grandchildren, Emi (Dave) Christensen, Zach Facer and Kelsey (Jake) Steed, Max, Ben, Will, and Sam Swain, Brad (Molly), Josh (Bekah), Ryan and Andrew Marks, Hannah and Hailey Murff, Tommy, Lauren and Jonathan Ellis, Annie, Kate, and McCoy Clark; great-grandchild, Noah Christensen; brother, Scott (Teresa) Halliday; and sister, Julie Evans. She is preceded in death by her son, Rodney Halliday Clark, and parents, Max and Marilyn Halliday.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 13th at 12:00 p.m. at the Valley View 2nd Ward on 4395 South Albright Drive, SLC, UT 84124, with a viewing from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Interment at Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery.

The services will be available to view on Zoom at 12:00 p.m. Use the following link to join:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84009517087