Lori Ann Heflin

The below tribute was copied from the order of service for the remembrance of Lori's life, which took place at Sunshine, CO, on 27 November 2009. It was used with the kind permission of Lori's friend and neighbour in Sunshine, David Wheeler.


Lori Ann Heflin died of an extremely rare and aggressive form cancer at the age of 52 on November 22, 2009. She died peacefully at her home and was surrounded with lots of love and support from her family and friends. Lori was born in Boulder and has lived most of her life in Sunshine Canyon. Lori opened Alchemy Salon in Boulder in 1991 where she worked as a hairdresser and was simply adored by her large and devoted clientele. Lori was extremely gifted with creativity and artistic talents. She was an avid writer, painter, sculptor, weaver, jewelry maker, seamstress, and photographer. The wildlife that visited her mountain home often became the subjects of her photographs, such as black bears, foxes, birds, bobcats, and deer. She loved all living things. She also liked to garden, cook, and bake pies.

Lori was passionate about life and displayed a remarkable grace and strength during her 17‐month battle with cancer. She was the embodiment of love and always had an open heart for people. She was kind, expressive, spirited, opinionated, smart, and gorgeously alive. She will be missed by all who knew her.

Her father, Robert Heflin, precedes her in death. She is survived by her mother, Ruby Heflin, sister, Janna Tyrer, brother, Steve Heflin and wife Sheila, three nieces, Shonna Tyrer, Jenny Begin and husband Henri, Kayla Andreano, and 4 great nieces and nephews, Sage, Violet, Jacob, and Olive.

Donations are being encouraged for Lori’s Love Tribe Colorectal Cancer Fund and the Sunshine Canyon Fire Department. Please consider donating to both!

1. Donate to Lori's Love Tribe Fund:
http://advocacy.fightcrc.org/goto/lovetribe
By donating to Lori's Love Tribe fund, your money will be used by the Colorectal Cancer Coalition to award research grants to people doing cutting edge research on Colorectal Cancer.

2. Donate to the Sunshine Canyon Fire Department:
http://www.sunshine‐fpd.org/donations
The Sunshine Canyon community rallied together when Lori needed them the most. They have come out of this experience as heroes to Lori's family. So, by donating to the Sunshine Canyon Fire Department, you are helping to protect and care for the beautiful people of Sunshine Canyon just as they protected and cared for Lori.

Lori / Lori's Love Tribe

Lori, from Sunshine CO, passed away this morning (22 November 2009) at 4.30 am local time, after a heroically fought battle against cancer. At the moment of diagnosis, last summer, it was already incurable.  

I have asked one of her neighbours in Sunshine, our own David, to write a tribute. This will be posted by myself as soon as it becomes available. I was not a reader of Lori's blog, and am saddened that I only came to know of this lady in the last hours of her life, probably at the moment of her death. Reading back through the journal, I will go so far as to say that a great person has been lost to the community of Sunshine, and to Jland / Bloggerville.

A more appropriate tribute will hopefully follow later.

Guido