Kimberly Ann Mayer, cherished wife and mother, adored sister and daughter, beloved auntie and oma, incomparable friend and confidant to all, warrior woman and sunshine of our lives, passed peacefully, surrounded by her loving husband and children, in Salt Lake City on May 6 2024, from pancreatic cancer.

Kim was born in Columbus Ohio on August 10, 1957 to Ben and Connie Beckstrand, the 3rd of 7 children. As a daughter of a military family, they lived in many places. After graduating high school and while attending The University of Minnesota, she met the love of her life and forever soulmate, Carl Mayer. Married on August 9th 1980, they moved to Illinois to begin a family of their own. Dallas Texas soon became their home, where they established roots and raised a beautiful, united family. Becoming a wife and mother inspired Kim to create a nurturing home. A safe harbor for her loved ones and for herself, where self-worth and creativity could flourish.

As her children became adults, she continued to pursue her passion for helping children recognize their innate value and infinite potential. Together, Kim and Carl, began working for Child Protective Services, as well as a shelter for teen girls. While discovering the immense need for healing, Kim began to focus her work on helping adults address their own childhood trauma and learn to love themselves. Working at several programs, her gift for connecting with others at a deep and meaningful level was undeniable, and a colleague soon asked her if she could create a program specifically designed for sexually abused and traumatized women. Divinely inspired, and with the help of close friends, “Sacred and Treasured” was built; a place where all women could share their stories and safely face their past. Over ten years, it has continued to be an extraordinary resource for the healing and friendship of the many women who have attended, as well as the volunteers, Kim included.

In finding her own voice and letting her light shine, Kim began to explore many other ways to express her truth and beauty. Her countless and wondrous works of art, endless and meticulous photo albums, beautiful letters and writings, live on as a testament to her loved ones of her vulnerability and joy. She used her art to heal herself and to heal others. She loved this quote from Brene Brown. “How do we move information from our head to our heart? How do we take what we know and make it a practice in our lives? The answer is - through our hands. Through Creativity.” She believed our Creator knows how healing it is to create.

Words cannot adequately describe the impact Kim’s life has had on all those fortunate enough to have been touched by her love and presence. With the most open and thoughtful connections, Kim found forever friends at an unheard of pace, and treated them all like family. Deeply grieved and shaken by her passing, her husband, four children, grandchildren, and all her friends and family, remain forever grateful and privileged for the time she has spent pouring her love into all of us, and are forever in her debt. As we follow her example and remember the lessons she has taught us, we honor her legacy, and continue to shine her light upon the world.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday May 11, 2024, at 2:00pm at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, in Salt Lake City.

For those unable to attend the service in person, the family invites you to join via Zoom, at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82592439614