Grace Charlene Grunander

Grace Charlene Grunander

December 25, 2011 ~ June 3, 2022

Grace Charlene Grunander passed away in the arms of her loving parents on June 3, 2022, at the age of 10, after suffering a cardiac event while swimming.

She was born December 25, 2011, in Ogden, Utah, to Todd Ryan and Megan Wolthuis Grunander. She was truly one of the few worthy to celebrate her birthday on the same day we celebrate our loving Savior. She spent the first nine years of her life living in South Weber, Utah, and the past year in Pleasant View, Utah. She attended preschool and kindergarten at Challenger School in Farmington, Utah. Grace was brilliant and as such accepted into the Davis County advanced placement PAL program and attended Mountain View Elementary for grades 1-3. This past year was spent at Lomond View Elementary School where she quickly made so many friends and left a lasting impact.

Grace was a shining beacon of light!! She was caring, kind, empathetic, compassionate, sympathetic, and always aware of everyone around her. She was a friend to all. She sought out the lonely, the sad, those on the outer fringe and was incredibly inclusive and loving. 

Grace was born with a cardiac defect, and we think that hole in her heart was because her heart just wasn’t able to contain all of the love she had within her.

Grace was the ultimate peacemaker and could calm every storm and settle every “sticky situation”.   

Our family motto each school year was to be a friend to those who had none, and she exemplified this daily. The stories that people have shared with us about the impact she had on them and their children are endless and for this we are so grateful. Strangers have connected to us via social media to tell us of their encounters with Grace that made a lifelong impression. We pray for people to remember the loving spirit she was blessed with and continue to live a life LOVING LIKE GRACE.

Grace was the very best big sister to Graham and Golden. No one could calm a hurt or frustrated feeling like Grace and that presence will never be replaced in our home and will be missed every single day for the rest of our lives. She would search for her brother at recess and after school every day so they could be together as much as possible. She accompanied her mother to Michigan when we adopted Goldie and their bond was immediate. There were days that Goldie wanted no one but Grace. They had handshakes, dances and rhymes that were just for them as sisters. Grace would do chores her siblings had been asked to do and then give them all the credit of accomplishing the task. 

Grace loved to sing. She was never without a song in her heart and spent most of her day singing! She was a member of Vocal Motion Show Choir and Lomond View Elementary Choir this past year and it brought her so much joy. She also enjoyed basketball and soccer and was blessed to have been on two amazing teams this past year making many special friends.

This was the first year of school that Grace was able to walk to and from school and very quickly found many friends to surround herself with on that walk. Even on days when a ride was offered, she would choose to walk with her friends. She loved nothing more than spending time with her South Weber and Pleasant View friends!

Grace is survived by her parents, Todd and Megan Grunander; siblings, Graham Scot and Golden Brionna; grandparents, John and Veronica Wolthuis and Carl and Christine Grunander; great-grandma, Charlene Herbert with whom she shared a name; great-grandma, Geraldine Van Orden and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins.

We know that there are so many who mourn with us, and we have felt your prayers.

Our world is shattered and hearts broken beyond repair at her loss. She will leave a void that will never be filled. We will strive for the rest of this mortal life to LOVE LIKE GRACE and do all we can to be reunited with her.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 11, 2022, at 11 am at the Pleasant View 18th Ward, 2975 North 1000 West. Friends may visit with family on Friday, June 10th, from 6 to 8 pm at Lindquist’s North Ogden Mortuary, 2140 North 400 East and on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 am at the church. Interment, Ben Lomond Cemetery, North Ogden.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Grace Charlene Grunander Memorial Scholarship Fund at America First Credit Union.

Services will be live-streamed and available by scrolling to the bottom of Grace’s obituary page at: www.lindquistmortuary.com, where condolences may also be shared.