Kathleen Anne Hall Bretzing passed away peacefully in her sleep, with family by her side, on the night of February 7, 2026, after facing health challenges with quiet strength and faith over the past several years.
Kathy was born on January 12, 1958, in Fullerton, California. She spent her childhood and young adult years in Southern California, first in Buena Park and later in Fullerton—places she always held dear. Kathy loved the ocean and the beach, and some of her happiest early memories were boating with her family on the lake and the ocean, water skiing on the Colorado River and Lake Shasta, spending treasured time together at their family cabin, or visiting her grandma in Grant’s Pass, Oregon.
Kathy attended Sunny Hills High School where she was active in drama and choir and in playing the piano for musicals and the choir. She graduated in 1976. She was also very active in the church, serving in leadership positions during her teenage and young adult years.
Kathy began attending Brigham Young University shortly after high school, pursuing a degree in Education. She loved her time at BYU and formed lifelong friendships beginning in her very first year in the dorms. During her summers home from college, she worked at a bookstore. One summer, she felt impressed not to return to school right away, sensing instead that she should prepare to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
During that time, she met the love of her life, Martin “Marty” Bretzing. Though Kathy would say they were “just friends,” Marty knew otherwise and patiently waited for her to realize they were meant to be together. As they both prepared to serve missions, their friendship deepened, and they quietly became engaged before departing. Kathy served for 18 months in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while Marty served 2 years in London, England. Through letters written across continents, their love and testimonies grew stronger. Upon their return, they were married in March 1981 in the Los Angeles California Temple.
Kathy and Marty began their married life in Fullerton, where they welcomed their first daughter, Valerie. They later moved to Utah so Marty could pursue his education, eventually settling there permanently. While living in Orem, they welcomed four more children—Matthew, Rachel, Zachary, and later Jacob, after moving to Payson in 1995. Utah became home, and it was there that Kathy devoted herself fully to her greatest joy: her family.
Kathy’s love for her family was deep, constant, and evident in everything she did. She was always thinking of them—worrying, praying, and showing her love in countless thoughtful ways. She delighted in “experimenting” with new recipes to share, gathering everyone together, and simply spending time with those she loved most.
When her children were young, Kathy especially enjoyed crafting and tole painting. She was incredibly talented, creating seasonal and holiday decorations, painted sculptures, and beautiful pieces that filled her home and were cherished throughout her life.
Music was another great love of Kathy’s, particularly the piano. She was a gifted pianist who blessed many lives with her talent—her family, her fellow ward members, and later the many students she taught and tutored. Music was one of the ways she expressed her faith, her emotions, and her love.
Kathy was known for her kindness and thoughtfulness. She was always ready to bring a meal to someone in need and had a special tradition of baking a yearly Easter cake, which she would have her children deliver to someone she felt could use extra love, support, or encouragement. She cared deeply for people and was generous with her time, love, and resources, always serving others even when it was difficult.
She also had a deep love for travel and adventure. Many Sundays were spent taking family drives, and she and Marty made it a priority to create memories through travel—visiting family in California, Las Vegas, and southern Utah, camping together in the mountains, and eventually taking longer trips to places such as Wisconsin, Iowa, Boston, and Washington. These adventures strengthened family bonds and created stories that will be treasured forever.
Kathy was blessed with many dear friendships throughout her life—lifelong friends from her early years in California, from BYU, from her mission, from her career, and from the many wards she lived in over the years. After the passing of her beloved husband, Marty, from cancer, Kathy found great comfort and companionship in a widows and widowers’ group. Through those friendships, she continued to find joy, adventure, travel, and spiritual growth, attending conferences and creating new memories with people she came to love deeply.
Kathy lived a life of faith, service, creativity, and love. As a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she held firmly to the belief that families can be together forever. While her family feels her absence deeply, they are comforted by the knowledge that this separation is temporary and that she has been joyfully reunited with her sweetheart, Marty, and loved ones who have gone before.
Her legacy lives on in the lives she touched, the family she nurtured, the music she shared, and the quiet acts of love that defined her life.
Kathy is survived by her five children: Valerie (Kurt) Shelley of Mona, UT, Matthew (Stacy) Bretzing of Fountain Green, UT, Rachel (Chase) Young of Payson, UT, Zachary Bretzing of Roseville, CA, and Jacob Bretzing of Spanish Fork, UT, as well as eight beloved grandchildren, who were a great joy in her life. She is also survived by her brother Stephen Hall and her three sisters Linda Condie, Nancy Stay, and Julie O’Brien along with numerous extended family members and dear friends.
Kathy was preceded in death by her loving husband, Martin “Marty” Bretzing, her parents Jack and Barbara Hall, and her infant sister, Jackie.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at the LDS chapel located at 650 West 800 South in Payson, Utah. A viewing will be held prior from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Interment will take place in Payson City Cemetery, 400 North 800 East, Payson, Utah.
Family and friends who are unable to attend in person are invited to view the service via livestream on YouTube. The livestream link will be available at:
3 Condolences for Kathleen Anne Bretzing
Condolences(3)
Beverly Rushton says
February 10, 2026 at 7:15 pmYou wrote a beautiful obituary that is so fitting for Kathy. She had a gift for making each person fill loved and special. We were very blessed to be in the same ward with her and be able to get to know her and your father, Marty. She will be dearly missed, not only by her family, but all those she befriended.
Erika Andreasen Corbin says
February 12, 2026 at 7:14 pmKathy was my Laurel advisor. She took this lost girl who was trying to find her way and befriended me. I have never forgotten her kindness and the twinkle in her eyes. She was a valued friend at a difficult time. She visited with my mom shortly before my mom passed and she was the same kind soul then as she was many years ago. The Hall family played an important part in my youth. May the Bretzing family continue to feel her love and have peace. You are so blessed!
Bill Bliss says
February 24, 2026 at 5:44 pmAfter watching the memorial and services for Kathy I decided that I had to make a comment. Kathy and I grew up in the same ward and went to all the same schools in Fullerton, CA. I’m just a couple years older. I was always impressed with the ability of the Hall girls to play the piano, and of course with Jack’s beautiful tenor voice which always brought a wonderful spirit to sacrament meetings. I decided that that’s what I wanted in my home, but I didn’t know how to do it. One time in high school I was over at the Hall home and I noticed that when someone sat down to play the piano, that was the priority. Doors might be closed, others might go elsewhere, but playing the piano was always encouraged and never stifled. That strategy worked with some success in my own home, and I could tell by the comments of Kathy’s sons that the same attitude prevailed in her home. As she was described was exactly as I remember her in high school. One example. when she came into choir in high school, she told all her LDS friends not to tell the conductor that she played the piano, because she just wanted to sing. (the school made no provision for a paid accompanist, so depended on students with piano playing skills) She forgot to one person, who “outed her” to the conductor in front of the choir. Of course Kathy, being the generous soul that she was, consented to play, placing the needs of all, above her own personal desires. And I can testify, since I was in the jury when she played for “Trial by Jury” that she was phenomenal! As a pianist of course, but in all aspects of life, as testified by her family.