Sandra Kirk Sawaya

1942 — 2022

Sandra Kirk Sawaya was born on November 28, 1942, to Wayne and Phyllis Ford Monk in Provo, Utah. She lived courageously with Ovarian cancer for the last two and a half years until passing away peacefully at her home in Pleasant Grove, Utah on May 20, 2022, surrounded by her adoring family. Sandra married Lary James Kirk in the Manti, Utah Temple on March 13, 1964, and their family included five children, Colleen, Stephen, Angela, Kimberly, and Karie.

Sandra was raised in Provo and Orem, Utah and was a proud graduate of Orem High School in 1961, and then attended Brigham Young University.

Sandra was a happy, kind, and devoted wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend. She greeted everyone she knew with a smile on her face, a twinkle in her eye, and a warm hug. She brightened every room and made the world a better place.

Holidays, birthdays, and family traditions were very important to her, and she celebrated with contagious enthusiasm. She used her creative gifts through her writing, poetry, and art to bless the lives of her family and friends.

Sandra started teaching piano lessons to a few neighborhood children when she was a young mother, and continued for thirty years, teaching several hundred students. The influence of those lessons continues to ripple through current generations today.

Following her husband Lary’s death in 2003, Sandra married Bill Sawaya in 2005 and encompassed his family in her overwhelming capacity to love and uplift. She and Bill were privileged to serve three missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: full-time Member Leader Support missions in the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission, and Utah Orem Mission, and a service mission assigned to the BYU Pathway Worldwide program. Sandra was a faithful servant of her Heavenly Father, both in formal church responsibilities, and in all her daily personal interactions.

Sandra was preceded in death by her parents Wayne and Phyllis Monk, her husband Lary James Kirk, and her daughters Angela Kirk and Colleen Kennedy.

She is survived by her children Stephen (Nancy) Kirk, Kimberly (Scott) Brown, and Karie (Lance) Wiley; nine grandchildren, Cassidy Kennedy, Jade Kennedy, Taylor (Jake) Thorpe, Jaxon Kirk, Lexi Kirk, Connor (Chelsea) Brown, Jake (Janna) Brown, Kirk (Abby) Brown, and Josie Brown; as well as great-grandchildren Hudson Thorpe, Indie De Vall, Calvin and Jude Brown; and her two sisters, Mar Jean McCalib and Janet Youd.

She is also survived by her husband, Bill Sawaya, and his children, Bill and Kali Sawaya (Sam, Josh, Ben, Annie, Liam), Ben and Sara Sawaya (Scott, Kate, Brett, Brooke), Becky and Brian Shumway (Spencer, Sydney, Isaac, Sam, Anna, Jacob, Matthew, Scott, Faith), Elizabeth and Brian Crow (Brian, Megan, Jonathan, Steven), Catherine Sawaya, Steve and Laura Sawaya (Kaylie, Amber, James, Oliver), Emily and Scott Humes (Andrew, Emma, Sophia), Amy and Spencer Hunter (William).

Services will be held on Wednesday, June 1st at 11:00 a.m., at the Pleasant Grove Mt. Mahogany Stake Center, 1548 North 900 West, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062. There will be a viewing on Tuesday evening, May 31st from 6:00 — 8:00 p.m. at the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North, Orem, UT 84097, as well as 9:45 – 10:45 a.m. at the church prior to the funeral service on Wednesday. A Live Broadcast of service will begin at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 1 on www.walkersanderson.com where memories and condolences also may be shared with family.