Jeremy Lynn Kidd 18 Jan 1974 Married Heather Marie Sorensen 4 Mar 2004
Heather Marie Sorensen, born 2/20/1976 in Lehi, Utah
Jeremy Kidd was born on January 18, 1974, in Logan, Utah. He was the third child and second son of Terry and Gloria Kidd. He graduated from Hurricane High School in 1992, having lived in many cities and towns during the intervening 18 years; Hyrum, Utah; Rexburg, Idaho; Mayfield Utah; Lehi, Utah; Rock Springs, Wyoming; Challis, Idaho; Meridian, Idaho; and Hyrum, Utah (again). After graduating from High School, Jeremy attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah for one year prior to serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served in the Brasil Sao Palo Leste (Sao Paulo East) Mission from 1993 to 1995, afterward returning to his studies at USU. During the summer between his junior and senior years, he worked as an intern in the Washington, DC offices of Congressman James V. Hansen. After graduating from USU in May of 1998, Jeremy worked for a glass retailer in Logan, then Fidelity Investments in Salt Lake City, before receiving an offer to work in Congressman Hansen’s office as a legislative assistant. Jeremy accepted the offer and worked on Capitol Hill for 18 months, eventually returning to USU to pursue a PH.D. in economics. He graduated with a B.A from Utah State University with a dual major in economics and political science.
Near the end of his coursework for his Ph.D., his mother set him up on a blind date with Heather Sorensen. Heather Sorensen, born February 20, 1976 (to Lon and Marie Sorensen), at Lehi, Utah, lived in two houses in one city before graduating from high school. Fortunately for the two of them, one of those cities was the same, at the same time, and they even lived in the same apartment complex. Unfortunately, it was when Jeremy was 5 and Heather was 3, so no chance of starting anything romantic at that point. However, their parents became good friends, and Jeremy’s parents regularly visited Heather’s parents down through the years, although they never took Jeremy with them. In fact, after that brief connection at a tender age, the only time Jeremy and Heather saw each other was when they were in high school, and Heather’s whole family came to visit. Jeremy and his siblings were required to go into the living room to meet mom and dad’s friends and their kids, but all found a reason to excuse themselves quite rapidly.
Heather had served a mission in Santiago, Chile, and graduated from Utah Valley State College and then Brigham Young University with a degree in audiology, and then worked for her father at his insurance agency. During that time, Jeremy’s mom continually mentioned to Heather’s mom that she had “2 sons,” and that they should set Heather up with one of them. Well, Jeremy’s younger brother Tyler became of eligible age, and it was “3 sons,” then Jeremy’s older brother Brandon got married, and it was down to “2 sons.” Eventually, Tyler got married, and it was “I have one son, but he’s in Washington, DC right now.” Fortunately, Jeremy chose Utah State University for graduate school, so their mothers could conspire to get them married.
Finally, in 2003, they went on their first blind date, a trip to the ballroom dance recital of Heather’s youngest sister, Kareena. The date consisted of dinner with the family, riding in the back seat of the parents’ car to the recital and back, and playing games with the family. Their second date was a few weeks later, this time a little more private dinner and mini-golf. That summer, Heather came to Logan to work on her master’s degree in Speech/Language Pathology, and over the course of that summer, all the other guys she was dating gave up, leaving only Jeremy. Heather’s coursework was only at USU during the summer, so she moved back to Lehi to continue working as a Speech Therapist. She imagined the relationship would drift away )long-distance, and all_, but Jeremy was persistent, and on October 11, 2003, Jeremy proposed. Later that week, Heather said yes, and they were married on March 4, 2004, I the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple.
Not content to have that be the only change in their lives, Jeremy and Heather moved 6 months later to Falls Church, Virginia, where Jeremy would pursue a law degree at George Mason University. Heather used her Master’s degree in speech/language pathology (Associate’s degree from Utah Valley University, Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, Master’s degree from Utah State University) to work in the Fairfax County Public Schools while Jeremy finished law school. In 2007, Jeremy got his first real law job at the Washington, DC offices of Ballard Spahr Andrews and Ingersoll, and Heather retired from her work in the schools. One year later, they began a nomadic lifestyle that, it was hoped, would allow them to achieve a goal of Jeremy teaching at a law school. Jeremy served as a law clerk for Judge Ted Stewart on the U.S. District Court for Utah.
He worked for four months at the Salt Lake law firm of Strong & Hanni; served as a law clerk for Chief judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Sixth Circuit in Medina, Ohio; and finally worked as an adjunct professor of economics and law at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, before obtaining his first legal teaching job. That job was as a visiting professor at George Mason University, Jeremy’s alma mater. After one year at GMU, Jeremy and Heather finally achieved their goal, as Jeremy received an offer for a tenure track position at Mercer Law School in Macon, expecting their first child, Logan Wickham Kidd, who was born on January 22, 2013. Twenty months later, their second child, Braden Soren Kidd, joined their family on September 26, 2014. On July 31, 2016, they were blessed with their final child, Finnegan William Kidd. They had dreamed of having more children, and even had a little girl’s name picked out –Lilian Aggie Kidd—but the Lord had other plans. And, keeping up with and herding their three boys promised to keep Jeremy and Heather more than busy enough in the coming years. Their lives would become even busier when, on March 29, 2015, a new chapter in their lives began as Jeremy was called to serve as the Bishop of the Macon Ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
They felt the Lord’s hand in guiding them in their journeys around the country, seeking for what they felt was God’s will for them—a legal teaching job. His hand was in their being blessed with three energetic, Liberty-loving, and strong-willed boys. In many ways, though their boys came to their family later than initially planned, the timing coincided perfectly with the new phase of their lives. Jeremy and Heather saw this as yet another evidence of God’s love and care for them and their family. They feel blessed, every day, to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, including the opportunities to serve (yes even as Bishop). Heather has retired from being a speech therapist (having worked in Alpine School District in Utah and Fairfax County School District in Virginia) and enjoys raising her boys, reading, and developing her many talents, including gardening and cooking. Jeremy, when not being Bishop, enjoys home improvement projects, reading, doing his research (mostly public choice economics and business law), and discussing all things politics and policy (though not always politics). They drive to Utah every summer, enjoying the time spent with family out of the hot, humid Georgia summers, and hope to be able to eventually return somewhere cooler and drier.