Brit Yenchik

1936 - 2022

Brit Hauan Yenchik

1936 ~ 2022

Salt Lake City, UT-On Friday, September 2, 2022, our strong and loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Brit Annie Wenche Hauan Yenchik, returned to the open arms of her husband, parents, baby sister, and many other family and friends who anxiously awaited her arrival. The last few years of her life were challenging as she began to suffer the effects of worsening dementia, which increased significantly since the passing of her husband three months ago.

Brit was born on August 21, 1936 in Trondheim, Norway to Arne Per Hauan and Aud Johansen Hauan. In Trondheim, she was surrounded by many aunts, uncles, and cousins and an abundance of love. In April of 1940, her childhood changed in an instant when the Nazi occupation of her city began. Four years after the liberation of Norway, their testimonies of the gospel and their desire for Brit to be married in the temple were so strong that the Hauans courageously sold everything they had and said goodbye to everyone they loved. After an arduous ocean crossing and a train journey across the country, Brit and her parents arrived in Salt Lake City in February of 1949.

Brit and her parents courageously built a new life in Utah, becoming part of the thriving community of Norwegian immigrants in Salt Lake. While she fully embraced her new country and the freedom and prosperity it afforded her, she never forgot her homeland and spent a lifetime imparting a love of Norwegian food, customs, and holiday celebrations to her posterity.

While living in the Best Western Motor Lodge in downtown Salt Lake City, which her father managed, Brit was introduced to a handsome young man who would become her husband. On September 13, 1957, Brit was sealed to Joseph Vincent Yenchik in the Salt Lake Temple. Brit and Joe created a home of laughter, work, tradition, and love for the four children who would come to them: Mark, Gary, Ann Marie, and Nancy Kay.

Brit found many happy ways to fill her days, always surrounded by family and friends. She loved going to Kmart, "bumming" (shopping) with her friends, watching the goings on in the circle from the kitchen counter, lunching with her former coworkers from Beneficial Life, and doing very little sewing with her lifelong Norwegian sewing club friends.

Brit was the consummate homemaker from whom we learned the skills of setting a table, cooking, baking, and decorating for holidays. Her skills as hostess blessed the Winder 5th and 8th wards as she spearheaded many Relief Society parties and ward dinners.

Mormor was the title Brit loved best. She loved nothing more than attending soccer, baseball, and basketball games, dance and music recitals for three generations of her family. She loved having the entire family over for monthly Yenchik Family Home Evening, laying out in the sun while the grandkids splashed in the hot tub, traveling with family, attending birthday parties and award ceremonies, picking up kids from school, and visiting with all of us as we dropped by.

Brit is preceded in death by her husband, mother, father, and sister. She is survived by her four children, Mark (Carolyn), Gary (Annette), Ann Marie (Korrey) and Nancy Kay; fifteen grandchildren; and seventeen great-grandchildren. Vi elsker deg, Mama, Mormor, og Bestemor.

The family wishes to thank the staff of The Grand at Holladay Assisted Living for their tender care of Brit and Joe in their final days.

A viewing will be held on Friday, September 16, 2022 from 6-8pm at the Winder Stake Center, 4366 South 1500 East, Salt Lake City, Utah. Funeral services will take place at the same location on Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 12:00pm with a viewing prior to the service from 11:00-11:45am. A streaming link for the services will be available in her obituary on the Wasatch Lawn Cemetery website. Interment will take place at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Cemetery following the service.