Jeanne Hayes Grover

Jeanne Hayes Grover passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, May 25 after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Jeanne was born to Vernon Hayes and Marjorie Israelson Hayes on August 29, 1944 in Mineola, NY. The daughter of a naval officer, she moved many times, but predominantly lived in either Washington, D.C. or the Oakland area. As a child, she learned to play the violin, a talent she would nurture and develop to become one of Utah's most prominent violin teachers.

Jeanne earned a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from BYU. While there, she married her first husband, John Pickering, with whom she had three children. In the intervening years, Jeanne developed her violin skills and was introduced to a new method of teaching violin, the Suzuki method, and even traveled to Japan to meet and study with Dr. Suzuki and the prominent Suzuki practitioners of the time. Later, Jeanne moved to Salt Lake City, bringing her violin training with her to become one of the first Suzuki teachers in Utah. In 1976, she married her second husband, John Grover, and had two more children with him, afterward moving to her beloved Bountiful where she would spend the rest of her life. Over the years, she trained hundreds of teachers and taught thousands of students, helping establish the Suzuki Association of Utah and acting as its president for a time.

Jeanne was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in many callings. To the end, she remained true to her beliefs, remaining active and attending church even through her last Sunday on this Earth.

Jeanne's true talent was her unending ability to love others. She would always make an extra effort to get to know people, and she had a gift for finding a person's hidden and delightful uniqueness. To her, every individual was precious and gave the world a new reason to celebrate, and she always helped people see so much more in themselves and others. She was a stubbornly hard worker, devoting hours to her teaching and service to others, rarely spending time for leisure. To her friends and family, she is one of the most beloved people we will ever know. She will be missed greatly.

Jeanne is preceded in death by her husband, John Grover, and her precious son Jeff Pickering. She is survived by her four children, Laura, John, Michael, and Kathy, and twelve grandchildren. Jeanne, we will always carry your memory and example in our hearts.

Funeral services will be Saturday, June 1 at the Bountiful, UT Central Stake Center, 1250 South Main Street in Bountiful, UT. A viewing will be held from 9:30am-10:45am, followed by services at 11am.  Interment will follow the funeral at Bountiful Cemetery, 2224 S 200 W, Bountiful, UT.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the ‘Jeanne Grover Scholarship Fund’ for aiding financially disadvantaged violin students attending the Utah Suzuki Institute. Donations may be given via checks made out to ‘Intermountain Suzuki String Institute’ or via Venmo at ‘issisuzuki’. Either format should make note of the scholarship fund.