Janice Keenan Nate

On January 12, 2023, our sweet and faithful wife, sister, aunt, friend, mother, and grandmother, Janice Keenan Nate, passed away after a short illness.

Jana was born April 14, 1960 in the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was the third of six children of Michael Herbert Keenan and Ida Deloa Cox. The Keenan family of four daughters (Peri, Jana, Robyn, Darcy) and two sons (Darren, Brent) lived in Centerville, Utah, and Jana had a wonderful childhood playing with her siblings and growing up in a close family.

As a youth, Jana developed a love of dance, taking ballet and tap lessons with her younger sister. She attended Viewmont High School in Bountiful, Utah, and participated in many activities; one of the most exciting was participating as an extra in the movie “Take Down” filmed in American Fork, Utah.

After high school, Jana attended Weber State College where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Dental Hygiene. Jana took a 19-month break from her pursuit of a degree to serve a mission in the Argentina Rosario mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was one of the highlights of her life.

After college graduation, Jana moved to Yuma, AZ where she took a job as a dental hygienist. It was there that she met the love of her life, Brad Nate. They were married February 10, 1989 in Yuma, Arizona and lived there until Brad took a new position with his company and they moved to Spanish Fork, Utah.

After working many years as a dental hygienist, Jana pursued a new opportunity to serve as a clinical instructor and professor at the Utah College of Dental Hygiene, where she taught and shared her expertise with over a thousand students over the last 15 years.

Jana was not able to have children of her own, but she felt blessed to be a mother to Brad’s two young children, Katie and Ian. She embraced them and loved them as her own.

Jana loved drama and wanted to become an actress. She attended the Barbizon School for acting and modeling, but eventually decided to focus on her practical career and let her passion for acting be fulfilled through community theater. Jana was very active in the Yuma, Arizona community theater and the community theaters in Utah; acting in and directing numerous plays. Jana was known to throw herself completely into her part, no matter how minor or important the role. She always smiled when reminiscing about how her minor part as a Don Quixote prisoner stole the show. She was locally renowned for her annual part as the female vampire, Natasha, in the Halloween play at Valley Center Playhouse. She also had minor parts in several movies, including several produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jana, with Brad’s help of course, kept an immaculate house. She expressed her artistic flair by creating her own floral arrangements for their home. She was very detail-oriented and loved to quilt, crochet, and engrave. Over the years, many family members received beautiful quilts she had made for them.

Jana had a sense of adventure and didn’t hesitate to pursue the activities in which she was interested. Jana applied and was accepted as a volunteer for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, and she was very excited and proud to skate in the opening ceremonies. She and Brad loved to ski. She was a certified scuba diver. For their 25th Wedding Anniversary, she planned a trip for them to Hawaii which included snorkeling, and a helicopter trip to see the high mountain waterfalls in Kauai.

Brad and Jana were always a team from the moment they fell in love. They did everything together. They both loved “rock crawling” in side by sides and Jana was one of the first women to own her own machine and drive solo in that sport. For 11 years they teamed up as guides for the annual May rally in Moab, Utah. Brad was usually the lead guide and Jana was his “tail gunner”, making sure every driver between them was safe, accounted for, and had a good time.

Eight years ago, they built a new home by the lake in Vineyard, Utah. They had a nightly ritual of sitting together on their deck and watching the sunset. Friends of Jana’s benefitted from her nightly photos of the beautiful sunsets she posted on Facebook. Jana had an acute appreciation for the small blessings in life—from a beautiful perfect cabbage from their garden to their cute kitties.

Last, but not least, Jana loved her Savior, Jesus Christ. She served faithfully in many church callings throughout her life, including Ward Historian, Music Director, Choir Director, Music Coordinator, Visiting Teacher, and Primary teacher to her sweet little Sunbeam class. She had an extraordinary faith in her place in the afterlife and never wavered in her devotion and the knowledge that everything that happened in her life had a purpose.

Jana is survived by her husband, Bradley Nate, their two children, Katie (Doug) Meyers and Ian (Tasha Carlsen), and six grandchildren; Tatum and Jackson Bench, Brock, Sawyer, Halle, and Jude Nate. She was preceded in death by her father, Michael Keenan, mother, Deloa Keenan, and sister, Darcy Keenan.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at the Vineyard 10th Ward Chapel, 1150 West 400 South, Orem, Utah. The family will receive friends from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services. A luncheon will be served afterward. Interment will take place that afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at the Centerville City Cemetery located at 650 East 400 South, Centerville, Utah. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.bergmortuary.com.

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