Mardee Wayment Hagen

Mardee Hagen passed away on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at the age of 84. She passed due to complications of Alzheimer’s Disease which she battled for several years.

She leaves behind her son, Tobin and her grandchildren, Kaira and Archer. She also leaves behind her sister-in-law, Sue, whom she loved as both a sister and best friend; her nieces, Aliesha (Matt) Schoffman, Paige (Bruce) Hill and Jenifer (Nikki) Wayment; and her nephews, Braden (Tiffany) Wayment and Brant (Kendall) Wayment. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, JoEllen Wayment; and many beloved grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by father and mother, Dee and Atholeen Wayment; and her brothers, Val Wayment and Wade Wayment.

She was born to Dee and Atholeen Wayment on May 31, 1941, the eldest of three children. She would later be joined by her brothers, Val and Wade, whom she loved dearly. She grew up in Ogden and graduated from Ogden High in 1959 where she made friendships that would literally last a lifetime. This group of ladies would be called the Club ’59 and would continually meet every month for the rest of her life. The friends she made in the Club ’59 would continue to support her until her death. She met with the Club ’59 ladies every month for lunch, birthdays and Ballet West performances and trips to Europe and beyond. She showed her family and friends what could be if you had the best of friends and supported each other to the very end. Mardee and her family are eternally grateful for these ladies and the support they provided Mardee until her death.

Mardee married her former classmate from Ogden High, James R. Hagen in 1961 and then continued her education with the encouragement of her father. She graduated from the University of Utah in 1964 with a degree in English and a Secondary Education teaching certificate in 1964. She then joined the Peace Corps. with her husband in 1965 and was sent to Israel to learn how to raise chickens to prepare the couple to move to India and instruct others in how to raise chickens for the next 2 years in Jodhpur, India.

She then returned to the United States to allow her husband to finish his education in Berkeley, California. In 1970, the couple welcomed their son Tobin and was tear-gassed by Governor Ronald Reagan during a protest, which she would remind her son about for the next 18 years to little effect as he became a Republican, much to her dismay. Later in her life she would ground her son for putting a Bush Quayle bumper sticker on her car without permission.

In 1971, the small four-member Hagen family left Berkeley, and began a trek east in their blue Volkswagen beetle along with a goldfish which, sadly, expired during the journey. Their 3-month-old baby, Tobin, somehow survived the journey without the benefit of a carseat which would not be invented for another ten years.

Mardee’s husband studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville while Mardee began finding her purpose in life working with the Renal Services division in the relatively new science of Dialysis which began to save people who had lost the use of their kidneys which before this had been sentenced to a painful death with non-functional kidneys.

In early 1974, Mardee, her husband and Tobin started the process getting vaccinated for every known disease to prepare to move to Punta, India. They made the 24-hour flight to India to begin their eight-month adventure. Tobin’s dad taught them to speak Hindi to guide the rickshaw drivers to market and then he learned to not let his son drink the water, and then Tobin lived a real-life version of Oregon Trail, by contracting dysentery. After that, Mardee only let her 4-year-old drink Coke or Orange Juice because it was safer. The Hagen’s had a parrot at their house that could speak English and Hindi but mostly just swore in both languages. Tobin learned a lot from that parrot.

In late 1974, Mardee and her husband decided to separate, and this left Mardee to raise her now 4-year-old son on her own. These were some of the most difficult times of Mardee’s life trying to provide for her son and herself all alone. It was tough and her little family would not have had Christmas at all without the help of her mother who provided presents and financial help to her little family. Mardee and her son, Tobin, grew very close during this time because all they had was each other.

In 1977, Mardee’s father passed away suddenly and Mardee’s mother asked her to return to Utah to be with her and to help her little family as much as she could. This would prove to be a turning point in Mardee’s life as they entered Utah with just a small suitcase each after having the airline lose one of their three suitcases during the trip west. It was a big change for young Tobin who had never seen real snow and was elated to see snow fall on a school day and immediately crawl back into bed but was later told that “Snow Days” did not exist in Utah unlike in Virginia where the city shut down completely if any snow accumulated on the road. Mardee had to run to the store as Tobin did not own a single piece of winter clothing. Tobin was shocked to see that his new class at Uintah did not have a single child that was not white. He asked his mom, “where are all the black kids were?”. Mardee struggled to explain why things were so different in Utah than in Virginia.

Tobin struggled at first with his southern accent and his overuse of the phrase “ya’ll”. A few fights and bites with classmates convinced Tobin to work on his “accent” however his use of curse words continued unabated thanks to his favorite parrot. Mardee eventually was on a first-name basis with principal Gary Francis after Tobin’s many fights.

Being a single mom in Utah was difficult at first but it made Mardee and her son closer as they were used to being the only family either had but her work in Dialysis would soon open new doors for Mardee. She soon landed a job at the University of Utah as the Administrative Officer for the Institute for Biomedical Engineering which would soon be renamed the Division of Artificial Organs for the University of Utah. This position would later become world famous after her division implanted the first permanent Artificial Heart known as the Jarvik 7 into patient, Barney Clark. The world watched as Barney Clark survived for 112 days and forged a new path for medical science. Tobin benefited as the first kid to bring an actual Jarvik 7 artificial heart to school.

She would grow the Dialysis program as the administrator to serve more patients in rural areas and even at patient’s homes as she led the program from 1983 until 2001 when she stepped down to be a grandma. Even as she passed the torch, she still worked to improve dialysis patients’ lives as she became the Executive Director of the Dialysis Research

Foundation in 2002, while she moved from Salt Lake City to South Weber to eagerly await her grandchildren. Eager was an understatement.

In 2003, her first grandchild, Kaira, was born and she was elated to become a grandmother. She asked to be called Grandma Mardee as to not be confused with Tobin’s grandmother and it suited her perfectly. She always had an elegant sense of style, and she brought that to her new role of grandparent. She moved just half a mile from Tobin’s home and took every opportunity to babysit her granddaughter. In 2005, she welcomed her grandson, Archer, to her family and she relished her role as Grandma Mardee. She was always ready to watch her grandchildren and Tobin and his wife appreciated her willingness to babysit. After Tobin quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad she accompanied them on countless outings and trips including one to Disneyland and a few trips camping with her grandchildren and their parents.

Grandma Mardee was always there for Science Fairs, History Fairs, concerts and all the crazy events that Tobin led as PTA President of her grandchildren’s schools. She became a fixture at after-school events and had a collection of t-shirts and photos from her grandkids’ adventures.

She spent every Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her little family and always relished her time with Tobin’s family. She still kept up her monthly lunches with her Club ’59 friends and included her best friend, Aunt Sue, in lunches and trips around the world. During this time Mardee and Sue became closer than ever after the loss of her brother and Sue’s husband in 2003. They spoke nearly every day and supported each other through all the trouble and triumphs that life had to offer.

In 2022, the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease began to present themselves and life slowly began to become more difficult but also more special. Mardee’s decision to move close to Tobin’s family made it much easier to help her because she lived so close. After Mardee decided to quit driving, Tobin started taking her to her doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, shopping, and then lunch together. While it was busy, Tobin was grateful to get to spend every Thursday with Mardee. Thursdays became their special day together. Everyone at Panache Hair Salon made every Thursday at 11:00 a.m. so special for her. It became her favorite day of the week to see Cortney, Debby, and all of the kind people at Panache. We are incredibly grateful for the kindness and care they showed our Grandma Mardee during this difficult time. She never left Cortney and Panache without a smile on her face. After getting her hair styled, Tobin and Mardee went to Fresh Market to get cookies and Diet Coke and other “essentials”. She also made friends with the kind people at Fresh Market who would ask about her when Tobin had to shop alone. She also had her weekly PT appointments with Tyler who worked tirelessly to help her strengthen her legs so she wouldn’t trip or fall while he would patiently listen to the same stories about India on an endless loop. So many people worked hard to make Mardee’s life happy even as her disease progressed.

It was auspicious that the first opening for her funeral was Thursday at 11:00 a.m., the same day as her weekly hair appointments, her favorite day of the week.

Our family will miss her fun demeanor and classy style, but we are relieved that she is no longer shrouded in confusion and anxiety.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the mortuary.