Jeni was born to Mack and Tami Sorensen on January 17, 1985, and passed away at home from complications due to the effects of Myotonic Dystrophy on January 6, 2025.  She would have turned 40 years old on her birthday this January 17^th.   She had dealt with and endured through the symptoms of Myotonic Dystrophy her whole life and is now released from that challenge as she returns home to her Heavenly Father.  Although we are saddened at her leaving us, we rejoice in her being freed from that lifelong challenge.

Jeni’s dad and mom provided her with a lifetime of opportunities and experiences.  She loved her mom and dad dearly most of her life, like most children do.  She spent much of her early childhood under the wing of her older brother, Josh.  They were best friends and truly loved each other.  She was a very happy little girl who spent endless hours playing with her neighborhood friends who lived on her block in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada.  She attended elementary school in Las Vegas and was a student at Brown Junior High School in Henderson, Nevada.  She attended and graduated from Basic High School in Henderson.  While a student at Basic she had many fun experiences.  One of those was being chosen as the Student Ambassador representing her school along with many students from other schools on a school sponsored trip to New Zealand and Australia.  After graduation from high school she went on to attend Dixie College in St. George, where she eventually earned her Associate Degree.

Jeni loved life.  She enjoyed going on cruises with her family, including the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and, one of her favorites, the Barbara Barrington Glamour Cruise with her mom and her mom’s friend, Kitty.  Jeni loved swimming for pleasure and for her workouts.  She was very talented in Diamond Art.  She also loved going to the temple whenever she had the chance to go there.  She was good at playing games and had a great memory for details in the games she played.  Another of Jeni’s favorite things was to go to Southern California and visit or stay with her grandma, Pat Steimle.  This brought her great joy as she loved her grandma and her grandma loved her to come stay with her. 

Jeni loved people, unconditionally!  She never said an unkind word about anyone.  She was quick to forgive and quickly forgot any negative experience, and really loved the people who have loved her.  She loved being around her friends and cousins and was always ready to play a game or do an activity.  This is unique for people with Myotonic Dystrophy because of the difficulty and, often, lack of motivation that they experience as part of the disease. 

Jeni was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She held numerous callings and loved to be involved with the ward activities.  One of her most favorite callings in the Church was as a Family Home Evening Mother, where she would always have so many fun activities planned for everyone to be involved.  Most of her cousins remember Jeni this way because she was just fun to be around in a family and/or a group setting.  Her cousins loved her dearly.  One of the cousins reminded us that Jeni’s favorite color was purple.  Purple bedding and purple curtains made her very happy!  Jeni was also a very thoughtful gift giver, and she enjoyed giving birthday gifts to those close to her.  She was often planning Christmas gifts for months leading up to the day.  And, just for fun, Jeni’s most favorite food was chicken tenders with LOTS of ranch dressing to dip them.

A few years ago Jeni was able to spend four years in Rexburg, Idaho, living with her Aunt Claudia and Uncle Dave Walker.  This turned out to be one of the most exciting times of her life.  Uncle Dave and Aunt Claudia and their family loved Jeni very much.  So much so, that during this time with them, Jeni learned to love working out, building muscles and getting into shape physically, which was unheard of in the Myotonic Dystrophy community.  Her results were a great eye opener for the Myotonic Dystrophy research specialists at the U of Utah Medical Center.  Jeni was the subject of multiple years of detailed research on her accomplishments during this time, and new boundaries were established for future Myotonic Dystrophy patients to reach for and achieve because of what Jeni had done.  This was possible mostly because Jeni worked really hard, with a lot of push from Aunt Claudia, to achieve what she did during this time.  During her time in Idaho Jeni also learned to love eating healthy food, like fruits and vegetables among other things. 

Jeni spent that last few years of her life being a great help and support for her mother, Tami, who also suffers from the effects of Myotonic Dystrophy.  Jeni would bring her breakfast in bed almost every day, and was a great encourager and helper for her mother.  This was a big deal because, as a result of her Myotonic Dystrophy condition, Jeni was NOT a morning person by nature.  But Jeni was always there for her mother and Tami greatly appreciated her presence.  Jeni’s dad, Mack, was also there to support both Jeni and Tami any way he could.  He took care of all the big things so Jeni and Tami could enjoy each other’s company as much as they did.  And every year, on her birthday, Jeni received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her dad, which she always looked forward to receiving.

Jeni is survived by her parents, Mack and Tami Sorensen, her brothers, Josh (and Lauralee) and Devin (and Kari) Sorensen, along with her nieces Madison, Jaylee and Avery, and her grandmother, Pat Steimle.  She also is survived by a number of uncles and aunts and a multitude of cousins, all of whom she loved very much.

There will be a viewing held Saturday prior to the funeral from 10:00 am until 10;45.  The funeral will begin at 11:00 am and will both be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints building at 5338 Winchester Drive, St. George, Utah.

A livestream link to watch the funeral can be accessed the day of the service below:

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