Tyrese Haliburton linked to Makenzi Kern's June 8 death at 26
tyrese haliburton is linked to the death of Makenzi Nichole Kern, who died unexpectedly from health complications on June 8, 2026, while traveling with her closest friends on St. Barthelemy Island. She was 26, just two days past her birthday, and the obituary leaves her family and boyfriend facing an abrupt loss.
“To know Makenzi was to love her.” The obituary’s line carries the story’s weight without softening it: Kern died on June 8, 2026, after celebrating a June 6 birthday, and the trip to St. Barthelemy Island ended with a family notice rather than a return home. Celebration of Life Services are pending.
Council Bluffs to Iowa State
Kern grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa, graduated from Lewis Central High School in 2018, and earned a bachelor's degree in 2022 in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University. During college, she cheered for the Cyclones, then moved into YMCA work after graduation, building a career that continued at the YMCA of Greater Omaha.
Her roles there moved from Youth and Family Director to Membership Director for the Armbrust Branch. That gives the obituary a second register beyond the loss itself: it points to a young professional whose work life had already started to settle into a steady path before the trip that ended it.
Family named in the notice
The obituary names her mother, Teri Dietchler, and stepfather David Dietchler; her father, Chris Kern, and stepmother Lona Smart; her sister, Delani Kern, and brother-in-law Chase Ahlers; her boyfriend, Alan Dungan; and her step siblings Kyleigh Austin and Alex Smart. It also names her grandparents Meerl and Karen Bever, Bonnie Waters, and Chuck Kern.
One line in the notice stands out because it reaches back to childhood: “you go first, I'll get a turn later.” Paired with the report that she had recently moved in with Delani Kern, it leaves a picture of a death that arrived far from home and immediately changed the center of gravity for the people closest to her.
June 8, 2026
Her death on June 8, 2026, is the only dated development in the notice, which is why the obituary matters to readers tracking the family’s next steps. The practical takeaway is simple: services have not been set yet, so anyone waiting on arrangements will need to watch for the pending Celebration of Life notice rather than a fixed date.
