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her adventurous spirit began almost immediately

Amber Swanson Mendenhall, a devoted daughter, sister, wife, and friend, passed away leaving behind a legacy rich in beauty, exploration, and deep connection to the natural world.

Amber was born on December 10, 1977, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, to LaVern Grosvenor Swanson and Judy Nielson Swanson. As the oldest child, her adventurous spirit began almost immediately. Before she was even a year old, her family relocated to London, England, so that her father could pursue his doctoral studies. That early experience ignited a lifelong love of travel and exploration.

Returning to Utah, Amber grew up primarily in Springville, surrounded by culture and fine art. Her father served as the director of the Springville Museum of Art for 32 years, while her mother managed the family business, Swanson Fine Art. Just down the street lived her maternal grandmother, Betty Jean Nielson, with whom Amber shared a deeply special relationship. Amber grew up alongside her younger sister, Angela Swanson Jones. with whom she became very close in their adult years.

From an early age, Amber developed a passion for plants and a keen interest in how to grow them. She spent a memorable summer living with her Aunt Cherry in Oregon, working at a plant nursery to deepen her hands-on knowledge. Her curiosity extended beyond the natural world to language, culture and architecture. She studied Russian in high school, and in 1995, she spent part of a summer living in Russia to practice her language skills.During these formative years, she accompanied her father on several trips to New York City and Europe. She also treasured her time with the Ross family of New Jersey, lifelong friends with whom the Swansons joyfully traveled and visited for decades.

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their close-knit family was always ready for a road trip, traveling far and wide to create lasting memories

A proud "Red Devil," Amber graduated from Springville High School in 1996—the same as her future husband, Ryan, though they did not know each other at the time.

Amber continued her education at Brigham Young University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture. While at BYU, she was a member of the Plant Identification Team, which competed nationally in Hawaii and secured an impressive 3rd place. Her studies took her well beyond the classroom, including summer internships at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and the historic Montgomery Place estate along New York's Hudson River. From 2000 to 2001, Amber served as a missionary in the Tucson, AZ Mission, which took her to locations as far as El Paso, TX.

Amber built an impressive and varied professional career. After graduating from BYU in 2003, she moved to Boston, where she worked as an archivist and collections manager at Harvard University's Herbarium. After several years in Boston, and deciding she had seen enough extreme winter weather, she returned to Utah. There, she worked at Red Butte Garden in SLC and pursued a graduate degree in linguistics at the University of Utah. In the summer of 2009, she took on a field role venturing into the desert to help propagate and protect rare native plant species.

During her time in SLC, Amber applied her artistic eye and photography skills to document SLC's beautiful historic churches, a project she ultimately compiled into a self-published book. Throughout these years, Amber seized every possible opportunity to travel. She visited her sister, Angela, in England several times, traveled to Spain, Italy & Ireland, visited the Milne family in Canada, and explored all across Utah and the American West with her dear friends.

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Amber leaves behind more than an extraordinary collection of experiences.

In 2010, Amber accepted a position with the California Native Plant Society, leading teams of volunteers into the desert to photograph and document rare plant species for preservation. While living in Sacramento and Glendale, she developed a passion for yoga. In her spare time, she studied and taught yoga, eventually founding her own yoga business.

It was during her time in Glendale that she met Ryan Mendenhall. Though they had graduated from Springville High School in the same class without knowing one another, their paths finally crossed years later in California. They quickly fell in love, discovering in one another a shared curiosity, love of adventure, and desire to build a life rich in experiences rather than possessions.

On August 31, 2013, they were married at the Springville Museum of Art, beginning their life together in Utah. Amber went on to serve as assistant to the director at the Springville Library for several years. At the Springville Library, Amber's interests followed her into her work. She secured a grant to digitize the historic Springville Herald, helping preserve the city's history, and had identification plaques created for the plants surrounding the library so patrons could learn about the landscape around them.

Above all, Amber’s greatest joy was her family. She and Ryan were blessed with two cherished children: a son, Brett, in 2014, and a daughter, Brynn, in 2018. Bound by a spirit of adventure, their close-knit family was always ready for a road trip, traveling far and wide to create lasting memories. At home, life was filled with simple, shared pleasures, including game nights, working on puzzles, crafting projects, hunting for treasures at local yard sales, and relaxing over favorite shows together. In 2020, they settled into a beautiful home in Orem, complete with sweeping views of Mt. Timpanogos & the other mountains she loved.

Amber possessed a lifelong passion for fine art and antiques, even curating her own booth at the Springville Antique Mall. In her final months, she thoughtfully gifted her treasured finds to family and friends, who will forever cherish these pieces and her deep love for history.

On September 28, 2022, Amber was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma. For four years, she endured an extraordinarily aggressive illness while doing everything she could to remain here with the people she loved. She and Ryan pursued every reasonable avenue they could find, sustained by the hope of more time together. Through treatments, surgeries, setbacks, and uncertainty, what mattered most to Amber remained the same: being present for her family, and especially for Brett and Brynn. Supported unconditionally by her husband, she fought bravely until she passed away peacefully in her home next to him on September 25, 2026.

Amber leaves behind more than an extraordinary collection of experiences. She leaves her children a legacy of curiosity and courage, and all who knew her a deeper appreciation for beauty, learning, adventure, and the living world.

Amber is survived by her devoted husband, Ryan Mendenhall; her cherished children, Brett and Brynn; her sister, Angela Swanson Jones; her parents, Vern and Judy Swanson; as well as many loving extended family members and friends.

If you'd like to help, we're taking donations to beautify Amber's yard with native, drought hardy plants and flowers that bring pollinators & make it as Amber always wanted. That's preferred to cut flowers. Any donation beyond what's needed will go to help our family with expenses as I've been helping at home and not working for over a year.

Venmo: @McMendenhall

Also, please take a moment to go over to https://amber.ecolivingnow.com and share a thought, experience or memory you have about Amber.