Hayden Lenz Obituary

Hayden Lorelei Lenz, 15, passed away on Friday, July 11, 2025, at home surrounded by her family.
Viewing will be held on Saturday, July 19th, 2025, at 3:00-4:00 pm with a Celebration of Life service following at 4:00 pm at Wilkerson Funeral Home and Crematory, 2100 East Fifth Street, Greenville, NC 27858.
Hayden was born at Vidant Hospital in Greenville, NC on July 30, 2009 just before midnight to the parents Tracy Everette-Lenz and Patrick Lenz, determined to be the first born twin and refusing to share a birthday with her twin sister. She was presented to her parents just after birth with a prim and proper expression as if to say, "It's about time. I'm here!" Hayden lived in Pikeville, NC until the age of 6 and then moved to Greenville, NC.
Hayden was a student of South Central High School in Winterville, NC. Despite all of Hayden's health challenges, she always completed work with diligence and full, conscientious effort. She continued to maintain high academic expectations for herself, took Honors courses, and achieved a GPA of 4.214. She had aspirations of taking an American Sign Language class at Pitt Community College so she could learn how to communicate with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and felt she might want to become a Veterinarian Assistant in the future due to her love of all things furry.
Hayden was the embodiment of all things delicate, detailed, and feminine that extended from jewelry, fashion apparel, artwork, decor, tea parties as a child with her grandmother, to interior design. From an early age, she provided constructive criticism and input regarding her mother's holiday decorating skills. She was creative and artistic, demonstrated sculpting skills, and enjoyed many hobbies such as creating with Legos and Perler beads, diamond art, puzzles, scrapbooking, and jewelry making. She participated in drawing contests at school and her artwork was chosen for submission for her grade level, as well as had placed at the Beta Club state level competitions for sculpting. She also enjoyed reading.
As a "middle child", Hayden was much like Switzerland, remaining neutral in matters such as those between her brother and sister with quarrels and conflicts. She never took the bait of sibling annoyance for attention, so much so that she received special treats for not engaging in sibling conflict during car rides home. From very early on, Hayden demonstrated a strong desire to please and be "good." A poignant memory comes to mind of a car ride home one evening in the month of December. Hayden was about 4 years old and "Santa Claus is coming to Town" was playing on the radio. Upon hearing the line "He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice", she expressively said "I be nice mommy, I be nice."
Hayden may have had a slow to warm up temperament but if she decided you were a worthy friend, she demonstrated immense loyalty and thoughtfulness that was unwavering. If you were her friend, you were blessed indeed.
Cancer is this overpowering force that enters your life much like a hurricane dumping torrents of physical and mental exhaustion and gusts of trauma, fear, anxiety, depression and isolation. Hayden braved this storm fiercely. Through this journey that lasted more than two years, she experienced such immense growth in maturity and insightfulness that some don't experience in a lifetime. Her wisdom was well beyond that of a typical fifteen year old. Through these significant, serious and deep life experiences, courage, strength, and persistence grew and was cultivated. She was a hero in her family's eyes.
Her relationship with her siblings was loving and fiercely loyal. She admired her older brother Coben for his laid back personality, how things just seemed to fall into place just right for him, his sense of humor, and his tendency to just do his own thing and find his own way in life. There was a calm and quiet love between them both. Her relationship with her sister was a whole other matter. She lovingly thought of Makenzie as her younger sister, feeling a strong sense of responsibility for taking care of her and protecting her. She was often Makenzie's soft place to land for reassurance and comfort. Hayden was often the antidote to her sister's anxiety and sorrow. It was a privilege to be an onlooker of the display of loyalty and connectedness between Hayden and Makenzie, which few can truly comprehend being that they are identical twins. They lived the motto "Sisters by chance. Friends by choice."
Hayden was preceded in death by her maternal uncle, Dean Everette.
She is survived by her parents, Tracy Everette-Lenz and Patrick Lenz, brother, Coben Lenz, identical twin sister, Makenzie Lenz, maternal grandmother, Dana Everette, paternal grandfather, Peter Lenz, paternal grandmother, Patricia Nelson, maternal aunt, Dawn Everette, cousins Annabelle Everette and Ruthanne Everette, and maternal uncle Cameron Lawrence and wife Marcella Lawrence, and cousins Reagan Lawrence and Riley Lawrence.
The family is requesting that attendees wear light to medium blue in honor of Hayden. It was her favorite color and she didn't want her Celebration of Life to be dark and heavy.
In lieu of any flower donations, please consider making a donation to the Pitt County Animal Shelter as a gesture honoring Hayden's love, passion, and compassion for the care of animals.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Hayden, please visit our floral store.