The Utah Mothers Association Board of Directors is made up of women who volunteer their time and give of their talents to support the mission and purpose of Utah Mothers.
Sharon Lay, Utah State President
Sharon Lay, President, lives in Highland with her husband David.
Dori Bowman, 2nd Vice President
Dori Bowman of Heber, serves as the 2nd Vice President and chair of Utah Mother of the Year Search.
Renee Hawkes, 3rd Vice President
Renee Nielsen Hawkes of North Logan was named the 2016 Utah Mother of the Year. She has served in Utah as the 5th Grade Essay contest chairman and gathered over 200 essays throughout the state from students.
Renee is a devoted mother and grandmother, plus a dedicated kindergarten teacher for 23 years in the Cache County School District. She received the “Hats Off Award” for Outstanding Teaching in 2007, Teacher of the Year in 2009, served on the Cache District’s Math Committee, and taught other educators in Utah through the Elementary Core Academy. Mrs. Hawkes believes education is important. She was married to the late J. Bryant Neilsen, who was killed in a pedestrian accident in 1992, leaving her with two sons. She was married to Chad Hawkes, father of six sons, from 2001 to 2008, and they were blessed with a daughter. She has three granddaughters.
Barbara Booth, 2020 Utah Mother of the Year
Margaret Nickell, Chair of 5th Grade Essay Contest
Margaret Nickell had a fun life growing up in beautiful Cache Valley with a loving mother and father, two sisters and one brother. She attended Logan schools and graduated from Logan High School. She loves music, which led to participation in Chauntaires, Cantadoras, Senior Hits and several musicals. She graduated from Utah State University in Elementary Education had a wonderful 39 year teaching career that she will cherish forever! During those years, she was honored to receive 1st place in a PTA “Favorite Teacher” contest in 1988, River Heights Teacher of the Year in 1995, the runner up for District Teacher of the Year in 1996 and The Cache Education Foundation “Hat’s Off” Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005.
She married Keith Nickell and they were blessed with 4 beautiful daughters who are now raising families of their own! Margaret feels fortunate that she can share the many talents she learned with her children and 16 grandchildren.
Diane Weese, Past President
Jenneice Beckstrand, Cache Valley District
Jenneice Beckstrand was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, to Rex W. Gurney and Bernice Summers Gurney. The family moved to Emmett, Idaho a few months later. Jenneice grew up on a farm close to her grandparents. She graduated from Utah State University in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She married Michael Beckstrand in 1979 in Logan, Utah. They are the parents of four wonderful children and grandparents of seven amazing grandchildren.
Jodi Wilding, Box Elder County District
Jodi Wilding is a native of Utah, growing up in South Ogden. She graduated from Weber State College with an AAS degree in Child Development and a BS degree in Food and Nutrition / Family Studies. She is married to Dr. David Wilding and they are the parents of five wonderful sons and reside in Brigham City.
Jodi is actively involved with her church and community. She is currently serving as the president of her local Box Elder Homemaker’s group and has served on the state board of American Mothers in some capacity since 1991. In 1994 she started the Brigham City chapter of AMI and served as president for ten years and then as co-president of the Utah Association, as well as on the AMI National Young Mothers Task Force promoting motherhood and families nationwide. She represented Utah as the Young Mother of the Year in 1994. She currently serves as the Brigham City Area Director for Utah Mothers.
Jan Zogmaister
Jan Macfarlane Zogmaister is a business owner and has worked with her husband. She is civic minded and has actively served on several community boards and is a former Weber County Commissioner, where she first heard about American Mothers. She is dedicated to protect businesses in Utah and lobbies the Utah State Legislature for business.
In 2015 Jan was selected as the Utah Mother of the Year. She has continued her service to mothers in Utah. She is currently very active in leader the Utah Mothers chapter in the Ogden/Weber area.
Jan is the mother of five daughters and mother-in-law and five sons-in-law. She has twenty-eight grandchildren. She loves to garden in her spare time.
Deanne Taylor
Deanne Taylor has been a member of American Mothers since 1976 when she first became involved with the chapter education program. Since that time she has served on the American Mothers State boards in both Arizona and Utah. She was recognized in 1985 as the Arizona Young Mother. She has been a member of the National Board in various capacities for the past 35 years and currently serves as National Bylaws Chair. She was National President from 2009-2011, and in 2018 was recognized by American Mothers, Inc. with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her decades of service to American Mothers and mothers and families throughout the nation. Deanne serves as an assistant to the state president. Deanne is an author, She and her husband of 54 years, are real estate investment specialists. They have 8 children. 19 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren and have lived in Pleasant Grove, Utah for 28 years.