Marie Hafen

Marie Kartchner Hafen is a mother, writer, editor, and instructor. She was raised in Bountiful, Utah, to Ray and Trudy Kartchner. After she graduated from high school, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 1964 with a major in English and a minor in Spanish. She married Bruce C. Hafen a few days after her graduation. She earned her master’s degree in English a few days before the birth of her second child. While in graduate school she taught writing classes at both BYU and the University of Utah. When her husband was named president of Ricks College, the family moved to Rexburg, Idaho. When he was named dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, the family moved to Orem, Utah.

Hafen has also taught religion, literature, and writing at both Brigham Young University-Idaho and BYU. She has published several and articles in Church magazines. She was associate editor of A Legacy Remembered and co-authored with her husband, The Belonging Heart. She has written for the Relief Society general curriculum committee and the Board of Directors for the Deseret News.

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served on the Young Women’s general board from 1987 to 1993. She served as the matron of the St. George Utah Temple from 2010 to 2013.

Hafen and her husband are the parents of seven children.