Keralee Heaton Oblad quietly passed away on the morning of April 19, 2024 holding her sweetheart’s hand. Born to Clifford and Annie Heaton on June 12, 1945, Keralee was the tenth of their twelve children, sandwiched between too many older brothers and too few younger. She had a feisty determination to live life on her own terms and surpass her physical limitations with flair.
As a child growing up in Kanab, Keralee was influenced by the movie industry that flourished in her hometown. She was cast as an extra in “The Greatest Story Ever Told” but ultimately had to bow out in order to graduate from high school. And as a baby, an actress fell for her adorable self and wanted to adopt her, something her family wouldn’t stand for. She instead grew up roaming the red bluffs of southern Utah, playing basketball and trying to pound puzzle pieces into the wrong slots.
Keralee developed an early admiration for the field of nursing and pursued her studies tenaciously at the University of Utah, earning a BS in nursing in 1967. That proved to be a landmark year for the blue-eyed young nurse, for she met her beloved sweetheart, Ross, on March 31, 1967 at an Institute dance. After a lengthy courtship of nine days, they became engaged and married that same year on December 29th in the St. George temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Together, they raised seven children who possess their mother’s sense of mischief and their father’s attention to detail, a combination that caused more than one gray hair and heart palpitation.
Family history was one of Keralee’s passions in life, and she could talk (and talk) at length about the ties between area families for four or five generations back and through to the present connections. Most important to her, though, was her family. She was a fiercely devoted mama bear to all her cubs, ready to defend them against any threat, even from themselves, and to do it with good humor and common sense. She was, after all, a Heaton, and teasing and occasional lighthearted silliness was almost genetic. She could wrangle toddlers and teenagers alike with impressive ease and unflinching love.
Keralee was preceded in death by her parents and nine of her siblings. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Ross, all seven children, 20 grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, and her brothers Steve and Brent.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 12:00 Noon in the Kanab 6th Ward Chapel, 1435 South McAllister Drive, Kanab, Utah. There will be a viewing on Friday, from 6 – 7:00 PM at the chapel and from 10:30-11:45 am prior to the service. Burial in the Kanab Cemetery under the direction of Mosdell Mortuary.
You are invited to watch the services through the Zoom link below.
Keralee loved everyone. Her testimony of the restored Gospel was one of those traits I most admired. She lived her faith and treated everyone with charity. I loved her sense of humor and found her most pleasant in conversation. I loved that she married my cousin Ross. I know she was a proud Heaton but she also was a proud Oblad. God be with you…. John R.B. Oblad
KaraLee was one of my 67 McAllister cousins. I first became aware off her when we visited her at Primary Children’s Hospital during a brief stay she had there as an infant. We became fast friends when we worked on a Samuel Adams Reunion and other McAllister Reunions. She was delightful, fun and a hard worker. She blessed many lives and was ready to meet her maker. It is an honor to call her cousin.