Tropic girl rests with ancestors

On a quiet hill dotted with sagebrush, 14-year-old Hannah Wagstaff's body rests in a simple spruce box fastened together with wooden pegs, rather than nails.

Next to her in the old family pioneer cemetery west of the tiny southern Utah town of Tropic is her great-great-grandmother and a great-great-uncle.

"She's in a simple, but beautiful, wooden box on a hill that has a beautiful view, with ancestors that have been buried there since the late 1800s," said Sarah Sorensen, Hannah's aunt. "It made a very close connection. (Her parents) are strengthened; it made that connection very real."

Hannah was traveling with a group re-enacting a pioneer trek from Fairview to Castle Valley on Tuesday morning in Sanpete County when a truck hit the handcart she was pushing on state Route 31. The driver told police he failed to see the group, due to the blinding sun coming up over the mountains.

Hannah was killed, as was Edwin Montell Seely, of Castle Dale, who had stepped out into the other lane to try to warn the driver to slow down.

Hannah's parents, artists Clay and Rebecca Wagstaff, were not on the trek, but they were in the area and arrived soon after emergency crews did, Sorensen told the Deseret News.

The family values its pioneer heritage and chose to have a simple funeral Wednesday morning. They left Fairview soon after the accident to travel home.

Once there, the 450 people of Tropic, near Bryce Canyon National Park, rallied around the grieving family.

"The outpouring of love has been so incredible," said Sorensen, who lives near her sister, Rebecca Wagstaff. "There's not enough for everybody who is willing to do stuff. There's not enough to do; there's so much help and support."

A memorial service for Hannah will be held today at 2 p.m., at the Tropic Ward Chapel.

Sorensen described Hannah as a quick learner, who excelled in her home-schooling and was making plans to attend Southern Virginia University.

"This was really the best option for them for how quickly she learned," Sorensen said. "She was a smart girl, she enjoyed learning."

Ultimately, Hannah wanted to become a midwife, which was what her great-great-grandmother was, Sorensen said.

Sorensen believes that's the reason Hannah worked to save her money to buy items for newborn kits, which contain supplies for babies and are distributed to other countries by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"She loved little children," Sorensen said. "That's probably why she selected the newborn kits, to help out those in other countries that don't have the advantages we have for our babies."