Friend remembers Utah man killed in Wyoming avalanche

A longtime friend remembered Alexander Marra, 30, as man who went out of his way to be kind.

Marra was killed in an avalanche Saturday in the backcountry near Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado Springs, Colo., and settled in Orem.

“I’ve been part of his life since the very beginning,” said Shaaron Saunders.

Saunders used to live in Cleveland and was close friends with Marra’s mother. She moved to Utah several years ago. When Marra moved to Utah, she said he made an effort to keep their relationship up. She said she thought of Marra as a son.

“He wanted to take me out this week and I said I only had Tuesday and Saturday. He said, ‘Tuesday night because Saturday I’m going skiing in Jackson Hole,'” Saunders said.

She got news of the accident Saturday and said she was shocked and numbed by it.

“First thing I said was, ‘Heaven got a beautiful stalwart to help on that side today.’ That’s all I could say,” she said.

Saunders will always remember the last meal with Marra.

“He told his mom that he had loved our time together,” she said. “His mother’s lost a noble son. He was so beautiful, and the way he loved his mom, that was probably my favorite thing about him.”