Care Hansen

2002 ~ 2023


Evening Viewing

Larkin Mortuary Riverton (3688 W 12600 S, Riverton, UT 84065)
Dec 21, 2023 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Viewing Prior

Larkin Mortuary Riverton (3688 W 12600 S, Riverton, UT 84065)
Dec 22, 2023 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Funeral Services - Virtual Attendance

Click the "Watch Services" Link Below
Dec 22, 2023 11:00 AM


Our amazing, beautiful, and so very loved first-born child, sister, grandchild, and friend, Carolyn “Care” Kate Hansen left this world on Thursday, December 14th, 2023 at the tender age of 21, to return home to Heaven. Care was a warrior who valiantly fought a long, difficult battle with mental illness and tried so hard to stay with us as long as possible. Each day Care survived was a victory, and we are So. Very. Grateful. for each and every one of those days that we were blessed to have Care in our lives. Our family will never be the same.

Care packed an amazing amount of life into their short 21 years on this earth. Care was born on May 8, 2002 at Jordan Valley Hospital in West Jordan, Utah, to thrilled parents Jeremiah and Kathryn (Katy) Hansen. She was their first child, as well as the first grandchild on both sides, and was welcomed into the world with great anticipation and much love and affection from the new parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Care was later joined by four younger siblings: Kylie (19), Isaiah (16), Noah (10), and Carmen (9). Care lived - both figuratively and literally - for their siblings. The amount of love she showed to them, and still has for them, was awe-inspiring and will never be forgotten. Care was constantly spending time with the siblings, taking them on food and treat outings, to activities, movies, and other events, and even on sibling trips. Care came up with so many ways to spend time with the other children and help them feel loved and be happy. Care’s brothers and sisters were the most important thing in the world to them.

Care had an amazing love for all animals and living creatures. As a young child, she loved to pet bees and hold spiders and snakes. Care had many pets throughout life, including a cat, turtle, ferrets, snake, lizards, fish, frogs and toads, rats, chickens, hamsters, and various birds that Care rescued and rehabilitated. Currently, Care has a beloved Seppala Siberian Husky named Mollie, who brought Care so much comfort.
Care was incredibly smart and dedicated and did well in whatever they put their mind to. They took school and study very seriously and always got excellent grades, even pulling off a perfect 4.0 many quarters throughout middle and high school. (All this, despite the extra hardship of struggling with dyslexia that wasn’t diagnosed or accommodated until partway through their junior year in high school.) Care attended South Jordan Montessori Preschool, Southland Elementary School, Oquirrh Hills Middle School, and Riverton High School, participating in many choirs and plays, and earning countless honors and recognitions along the way, including Eagle of the Quarter, Student of the Month, National Honor Society, Academic Letters, and so on. Care graduated from Riverton High School in 2020 and later received an Associate’s degree from Salt Lake Community College in 2022. Care was currently working to get into a nursing program and could be found studying hard for finals right up until their passing.

One of Care’s favorite hobbies was to participate as a background actor in movies and tv shows. Care was a featured extra in the Scott Sterling and other Studio C sketches, several religious films, including The Chosen, some Hallmark and similar Christmas movies, several seasons of the High School Musical series, and others. Care enjoyed involving family and friends in these experiences, and we were always excited to see Care on the screen and their name in the credits. Care’s professionalism and talent made them a favorite of several casting directors and was always invited back.

Care was always very sensitive to those with special needs and made some very dear friends through interactions with peer tutoring, special needs seminary, and while working as a camp counselor at an adaptive summer camp during high school. Care’s love for these friends was sincere, and they really seemed to understand that.

Care had a love for the LGBTQ community, of which they were a part. Care came out publicly as non-binary several years ago and has since been exploring their gender, using various pronouns, and even briefly testing out a masculine name, by which some people have known Care recently. Care had also begun to reconnect with their feminine side and shared several experiences with us demonstrating that. One thing for certain is that though Care was known in different ways by different people, they were a shining example of love to all. Care touched the lives of so many members of the LGBTQ community, making countless friends and helping them to feel accepted and to accept themselves. Care enjoyed attending a variety of activities and events, including those at Encircle, Love Loud, and the Pride Festival, proudly participating in the parade each year. Our family always loved and accepted Care for who they were. We hope all will honor Care’s legacy by continually striving to always show love and acceptance to others.

Care’s many passions included compassionate care and nursing. Care became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) during high school and worked at Legacy House of South Jordan (an assisted living and memory care facility) for over four years, starting as a senior in high school and up until their passing. At the time of their passing, Care was one of the most senior CNAs and Med Techs there and took the job very seriously. Care was a healthcare hero during the pandemic and worked tirelessly through several outbreaks at their facility. Care had such a love for the residents there and became close with many of them, being an integral part of the last months, days, and even moments of so many. It was a heavy burden and took a toll on Care to be around during the deaths of so many people who truly mattered to them, but Care sincerely loved these people and was honored to be with them through these times.

Another of Care’s great passions was traveling and humanitarian work, which often went hand in hand for Care. A lifetime of travel was packed into Care’s short 21 years, with visits to 21 countries before turning 20, including every continent except Antarctica. Care’s father was their travel buddy throughout most of these travels, visiting nearly all those countries together, often just the two of them, as they explored the world and adventured together, having incredible experiences and making unbelievable memories that will last forever. Care went on humanitarian trips to Uganda, Kenya, Paraguay, Peru, and Thailand, including spending several months living abroad in Africa as a humanitarian worker during the Covid pandemic. Care truly loved and cared about people on a very personal level and touched the lives of countless people in countries all around the world, where they still have friends and loved ones to this day. Traveling is one of our family’s favorite past times, and we were blessed to go on many family trips with Care. Care was always up for an adventure and made our travels so much fun. We will always cherish these memories.

Survived by parents Jeremiah and Katy, siblings Kylie, Isaiah, Noah, and Carmen, grandparents, a great-grandmother, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

To our dear, wonderful Care: Your presence in our lives is one of the greatest gifts we could ever have received. You brought so much joy and beauty into the world. We take comfort in the knowledge that you are no longer suffering, but life without you is going to be SO hard. We will miss you every day. We know you will be there to greet us when the time comes for us to be reunited. Until then, stay near and continue to share your love with us, as we will with you.

In lieu of flowers, the family is establishing a fund to honor Care by making future contributions to events, organizations and individuals that Care held close to their heart. Donations can be sent via Venmo to @jerhansen. Please note the donation is intended for Care's fund.

Funeral services for Care will be held at 11AM on Friday, December 22, 2023 at Larkin Mortuary - Riverton, 3688 West 12600 South in Riverton, Utah. Viewings will take place at the same location Thursday evening from 6-8PM as well as Friday prior to services beginning at 9:30AM. Interment will follow at the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park - South Valley in Riverton, Utah.

Funeral services will be streamed via Zoom for those wishing to attend virtually. To watch the previously held services, please click the "Watch Services" link above.


Guestbook/Condolences

Adam, Em, Sidney, Luke and I are all devastated by the loss of our favorite slide person. Care 1was dedicated to scheduling, ride sharing, training everyone new, and being so helpful. We also enjoyed having them visit and connect with us in our home. I loved that they would take such pride in bringing their younger siblings to the slide to play and get exposure to the fair. They were so kind to everyone and we will miss them and think of them every year we visit SLC. Rest in Peace Care! We love you. The Braden Family.


- Jeanne Braden and family

Dear Katy and Jeremiah, I want to tell you what I thought of Care. I only met her several times when I was staying at your Mom's house. Care had a wonderful and loving smile. I could tell she was genuine and a very caring person by her soft spoken voice and how she looked straight into your eyes when she was talking to you. I knew she was a very special person the moment I met her. I wish I could of had the chance to get to know her better. I hope I can do that when it's time for me to go back home to Jesus and God. Thank you for sharing an incredible woman you raised and loved, with me.


- Paula Lindsay

You will be forever in our hearts care fly high With love from your legacy friend 🤍


- Cheryl Meza

So sorry for your loss Katy and Jeremiah. I didn't know Care but reading her obituary she sounds like an amazing person. Thoughts and prayers are with you. Much love


- Steve Sorensen

I didn't get a chance to work closely with Care, but I was able to have short discussions while giving report at work.
One thing I can say without a doubt is that Care was a very loving person and gave so much kindness and respect to everyone she was around. It's so tragic that the world lost such a bright star! My deepest condolences to her family and friends!!


- Penny

Beautiful soul, beautiful light, I am going to miss you very much Thank you for every fun moment we shared in our work, thank you for all your help when we work together, I am happy to meet you and see you in paradise beautiful light See you always sweet Care, my deepest condolences to her parents, siblings and family.
-Rocìo Garcés-


- Rocio Garces

I had anatomy with Care at slcc about year ago. They were someone i will never forget. The way they impacted the entire class was truly something special. They had a way of pouring out love and kindness for all without judgement or hate of any kind. They inspired me everyday to be a better, kinder, more thoughtful person. And they reminded me that it is important to be kind to everyone, because you never know their situation. Care was truly a light in this world, and although without them the world is a little dimmer, their example will shine forever in the lives that they touched. Thank you Care, you helped make me the person I am today, and i will forever be grateful to you for your example of love and acceptance.


- Keziah or Z

Sending so much love to your family. My trip to Uganda was pure delight with Care. They were the first to repel down the 324' Sipi Falls cliff and inspired me to be brave and follow. They played with all the insects and I will try to find my picture of them with the caterpillar. I've continued to chat with them through Instagram. I have so much admiration of them and they exude love. I've also learned so much more about the lqbtq+ community from them. Grateful to have known them.


- Jen Kay (Jenkins)

My heart is heavy with this news. My name is C and I am a group facilitator and gender-affirming therapist for the Trans/Nonbinary group at Flourish Therapy (a LGBTQ+ non-profit that provides subsidized mental health services to our community). I had the pleasure of having Care in this group and connecting with them many times. They were timid and didn’t speak up often but somehow the two of us always seemed to connect at the end of the group. I gave them my number back in August because they said they were having a hard time and needed a therapist. I had them jump the waitlist at Flourish and they started seeing one of our gender-affirming therapists. They again reached out in October because the therapist they were assigned to wasn’t a good fit for them, so I helped them get a new one. Something I really admired and loved about Care was their ability to hold space for others healing and to ask for help when they needed it. I am just so so sorry that I didn’t do more. That I didn’t check in more and see how their new therapist was doing. They hadn’t been to group in a couple months and I just thought they were busy with school. It is always so hard to lose a memeber of our community but even more hard to lose a member of our group because it’s been said that’s it’s a life saving group. On behalf of the Flourish Therapy TNB group (it use to be the Utah pride center’s group before it shut down- Care actually had a strong vote on taking the group to Flourish Therapy and we thank for them their input) we want to share with your family how much Care meant to us and how much we will all miss them.

If I had can of help anyway, please don’t hesitate to reach out.


- C Meyer (she/they)