Hundreds gather to honor Mia Love during viewing at the Capitol

SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds gathered at the Utah State Capitol on Sunday evening to pay their respects during a memorial viewing for former Utah Congresswoman Mia Love.

Love died on March 23 at 49 after fighting glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer she had battled for three years. She spent her last moments surrounded by family and friends at her home.

Her public memorial service will be held Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Institute of Religion on the University of Utah campus, 1780 S. Campus Dr., in Salt Lake City.

Her viewing Sunday night demonstrated just how impactful Love was in her private life and as a civil servant. She held many titles, including wife, mother, mayor, member of Congress and media commentator. Her former campaign manager, Dave Hansen, said she was the best convention speaker he had ever seen, emphasizing that her efforts to memorize lines and inflections were unmatched.

"She moved people, and it was her words, and it was the way she delivered herself," he told the Deseret News. Love entered the national political scene in 2012 with her speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Her longtime friend Sarah Haley Nitta, director of Education and Development at Prevent Child Abuse Utah, traveled to Tampa with Love back in 2012. She told the Deseret News that Love had "democracy in her bones."

"She really cared about responsible policy because she wanted to build a country that would last for generations," Nitta said, emphasizing that Love wanted her children to experience the American Dream.

"Mia was always willing to fight for the things that she believed in, and she did that. Could do that in a very assertive way, but also in a very witty way. And I think she was just such a beautiful beacon of hope for democracy," Nitta added. "The legacy, principles and values of the Republican Party that voted for suffrage and that voted for civil rights. She was the product of that, and she represented that party in such a powerful way, that's her legacy."

In her last open letter, she spoke about the need to give back.

"The America I know gives back. Americans, regardless of financial status, are the most giving people on the planet," she wrote. "On their own, without government requirement, our people give their money, their time and their attention to causes, communities and people in need whether it is across the street or around the world. I've experienced this generosity throughout my life and during my battle with cancer. I am so grateful."

Her friend of 15 years, DeLaina Tonks, executive director of Mountain Heights Academy, said giving back is an attribute Love exemplified.

"What her dad told her when she was growing up is 'you will give back,' and that is the same thing she taught her children. It's what she's taught my children. It's what she's taught her friends," Tonks told the Deseret News. "That we're here to make a difference in the world, to make the world better, to leave it better than we found it. And she has done that, and my expectation is that we will all follow in her footsteps and leave the world a little bit better than we found it based on her example of giving back."

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