Lacosta Noma Gifford

You arrived on a warm, spring evening as you charmed the twilight illuminating your entrance. It was then that you would formally announce your birthright, freeing your twin Itashia to step back into the rapture. Born on April 28, 1977, to John Greenwell and Betty Edwards Card in Salt Lake City, Utah.
You were ready to take on the world, not concerned with the trials that would be your pilot in life. Two days lapsed, and you arrested, but with persistence you pushed onward. From the moment you lay in my arms, I knew just how unique you were and how we had created a miracle.
Those who knew her know how much we will miss the smile, the eyes, and her always ready to lend a hand demeanor. She was beautiful inside and out and it didn’t matter if she was ailing, she never missed an opportunity to help someone else. She fearlessly raised a beautiful child, Mikayla, who was her world.
From the steering wheel of her chair, she drove us to a moment of time where she moved us with her love and loss and the milestones that she struggled with her whole life. She simply revealed to us the hard-hitting playback of her strength. She conquered more in her short life than most of us are willing to attempt in a lifetime. She graduated high school in 1995 from Hunter High and college in 2017 from Penn Foster College. She proudly was one of the United Cerebral Palsy poster children as well as one of the first children confined to a wheelchair to be mainstreamed into a Salt Lake Public School system.
Although all this was considerably impressive, she didn’t stop there. She was an accomplished artist. You would think that writing, singing, and producing your own music would be difficult, but not for someone whole life revolved around music. Your love for music was boundless and crossed genres. We could feel the tones resonate echoes from your heart. As luck would have it, you were able to volunteer your free time with FM 100’s Bob Nelson. Even there your unique charm flowed through the air waves.
“LaCosta, you assumed the spirit of a warrior born from an innocent spirit. Now it’s your time to soar with the angels. You can never reach so high that we can’t hear the memories of your whispers left behind.”
Preceded in death by her twin sister, Itashia Aubrey Greenwell; and husband, Stephen A. Hopoate. Survived by her parents, John Greenwell and Betty Edwards Card; daughter, Mikayla Hopoate; husband, Jeremy Gifford; brother, Chris Greenwell; and half-siblings: John, Shane, Jason and Jennifer.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at Memorial Lake Hills Mortuary, 10055 South State Street, Sandy, Utah. Interment at Memorial Lake Hills Cemetery.
Service Information

Memorial Service
April 2, 2019 at 1:00 PM
Memorial Lake Hills Mortuary, 10055 South State Street, Sandy, Utah