Nicholas William Raitt

Nicholas William Raitt

Nicholas William Raitt, 22, earned his angel wings on June 2, 2011 after a courageous four year battle with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer.

Nick graduated from Layton High School in 2007 and was a student at the University of Utah. He enlisted in the Utah Army National Guard but was medically discharged after his cancer diagnosis.

He was able to nurture his positive attitude by 1) demonstrating gratitude by service to others; 2) having something big to look forward to; and 3) having fun! He founded "Nick''s WACKY Warriors" a€" WACKY represents Warriors Against Cancer in Kids and Young-adults- in order to raise funds and awareness for First Descents (a young adult cancer survivor camp) and CureSearch (a childhood cancer research foundation). Nick received the Les Schwab "Do The Right Thing" award for 2010, presented by ABC''s Channel 4, Good Things Utah.

Nick was a hockey loving, kayaking, sky diving, steer roping, high flying, rock climbing and inspiring cowboy, son, brother, nephew, grandson and friend a€" guided by his profoundly strong and tenderhearted spirituality. He never let cancer dictate his choices and embraced every opportunity life presented. He loved the phrase, "Cowboy up" which represented his attitude in facing adversity.

Our entire family would like to extend our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the entire staff at Huntsman Cancer Institute for the quality of care, both physically and emotionally, demonstrated to Nick through his entire journey with cancer.

Paddles up, Nickname! We love you!

He is survived by his father Todd Raitt; mother and step-father Lori and Lee Brower; sisters Carly and Kelsey Raitt; step-brothers Bo (Becky) and Nate (Lauren) Brower; step-sisters Melody (John) Watson; Stephanie (Nic) Clausen; Natalie Brower; grandparents John and Virginia Balcom; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and fairy godmothers. Preceded in death: grandparents Bill and Sheila Raitt; and grandmother Helen Beatty (Balcom).

Funeral services will be held Monday, June 6, 2011 at 11 a.m. at the Northridge LDS Stake Center, 2375 E. 3225 No., Layton. Friends may visit family on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist''s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Road and Monday from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. at the church. Interment, Lindquist''s Memorial Park at Layton, 1867 No. Fairfield Road.

For those interested, in lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Nick''s WACKY Warriors by visiting www.wackywarriors.org. To learn more of Nick''s journey, please visit www.nick-raitt.blogspot.com.