Nedra Buttars Petersen

Nedra Buttars Petersen passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and friends on September 19, 2025. Nedra was born October 1, 1943, in Lewiston, Utah, to Omar and Eunice Buttars, the second of seven children.

In her youth, she also lived in Preston and Blackfoot, Idaho, attending Blackfoot High School until her junior year. Her family moved and settled in Ogden, Utah, where she completed her schooling at Ogden High School. Nedra furthered her studies at Weber College, where she participated in the Otyokwa Sorority and was a member of the Colleens. Nedra fondly told stories of her youth in Idaho cleaning the chicken coop, tending cows, and working at the soda shop. And, of course, our favorite story, of being able to drive at the age of 14.

After college Nedra was a flight attendant for United Airlines and eventually came home to begin a career as a beautician. On January 1, 1965, her life was forever changed by meeting the love of her life, Robert J. Petersen (Bob). Bob preceded her in death by six months, passing away in March 2025. Their brief courtship followed by marriage on February 19, 1965, in the Salt Lake Temple, solidified her love for Bob, her forever companion, and for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Nedra has always attributed her internal strength to her unwavering faith.

Nedra and Bob created and built a successful construction company, working side by side for decades. They were blessed with two children - Angela (Scott) Kempema, and Matt (Nikki) Petersen. Her children and grandchildren were her focus and love. She loved her grandchildren: Jakob, Jonah and Micah Kempema and Kendell and Cache Petersen. Nedra was ever present with a smile and endless support.

Nedra’s internal life is difficult to describe, being faced with trials many of us cannot fathom. From a young age, Nedra suffered health problems: infertility, cancer, liver health, shingles, and partial blindness. Spending countless days of medical testing and years of treatments, Nedra remained unbreakable. She faced every challenge with strength, courage, and continued positivity. She celebrated her thirty-fourth anniversary as a liver transplant survivor on June 10, 2025. Many in her life underestimated her strength, doctors gave her merely years post-transplant to live, and Nedra defied them all. She gracefully endured cancer of the salivary glands, colon cancer, and enumerable skin cancer surgeries, due to her anti-rejection drugs, and also macular degeneration. The same pharmaceuticals that helped her through the last thirty-four years ultimately took her life after a brief fight with oral cancer just six months after Bob’s passing.

Mom (grandma) was often underappreciated because of her quiet nature. Little did others, including those close to her, know of her fierce and courageous will, surviving battles that would be crippling to most. Her silent sufferings with health challenges were always cloaked in a smile and kind words. She never made her challenges a focus. Most people that met her never even knew of her courageous story.

Her passion for her family and her faith is what sustained her through the years. Ever the constant worrier of those around her, she truly lived selflessly. From doctors, nurses, close friends, and others, it was always the same remark, “I just love your mom.”

Mom (grandma) is someone we’ll always cherish; her smile, her gentle enjoyment of life, her family, and her close friends. She will forever be a hero, a shoulder to lean on, an inspiration to be happy, and a source of strength when things get difficult.

I love you more than you’ll ever know. Being with you, helping you, and loving you was, and is, a privilege that I will forever treasure until we meet again.

A Celebration of Life will be held Thursday October 2, 2025 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rock Chapel, 2455 N. Valley View Dr., Layton, Utah.

Arrangements entrusted to Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 N. Fairfield Rd., Layton, Utah.