Anita Astill Haywood

Anita Astill Haywood, 52, was suddenly taken from us on August 27, 2021 due to complications caused by the Covid virus.  Anita was born in Salt Lake City on July 6, 1969 to Gary and Dorothy Astill and grew up in Millcreek, Utah where she attended Granite High School. 

Her adventurous spirit would not sit still in Utah, so she packed up and moved to North Carolina to work as a nanny.  While there, she attended a church activity where she met Chris Haywood. For Chris, it was love at first sight.  Anita, in her wisdom, was more cautious of her army suitor from Fort Bragg, but eventually she fell head over heels for him and they married in the Salt Lake Temple.  They were brought together by the hand of the Lord. 

Being an army wife was not easy, but Anita did it with valor and honor.  She supported both her husband and her country while Chris was deployed overseas, often for many months at a time. She was a true patriot. Their commitment to the military took them to North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, back to North Carolina, and then to Washington State.  Everywhere Anita lived, she impacted others for good and made things better.  She loved to laugh and had a keen sense of humor. She lifted burdens and was compassionate and loving to all.  She had a particular gift to notice and minister to the one who was alone or downtrodden.  If she saw a problem, she set about to fix it. One of her proudest accomplishments was volunteering at the local food bank where she helped organize and mobilize the community to serve. Anita always had the faith to make miracles happen in her life, and they did. 

Anita lived her life with purpose and determination.  Her highest priority was to God, with her family a close second.  Her greatest accomplishment in life was loving and raising her 7 children.  She supported them in all of their activities, spending countless hours in the car driving them where they needed to go, whether it was early morning seminary or a school event.  She was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had a burning testimony that Christ lives and His gospel was restored to the earth.  At the time of her passing, three of her children had faithfully served missions, one is currently serving in Utah, and another is days away from reporting to serve in Sierra Leone, Africa. 

Anita was greeted with joy on the other side of the veil by her son, Teancum, who passed away on the day he was born while Anita held him in her arms, and her mother Dorothy.  She is survived by her husband Chris; her sons John, Cody (Diana), Ammon, Porter, and Gideon; her daughter Annabelle Morphonios (Jacob); her father Gary, and siblings Dane, Ginger, and Michael.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 7, 2021 at 11:00 am at the Springview Ward, 3151 South 900 East, Millcreek, Utah.  Friends and family are invited to visit from 9:00-10:30 am prior to the service. Interment will follow at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.  We ask those attending the services to please wear a mask and social distance where possible. The funeral service will be broadcast online for those unable to attend in person. To watch the funeral scroll to the bottom of Anita's obituary at www.HolbrookMortuary.com, where the funeral will remain available to watch for 90 days.