Karin Meyer, 1964-2007

Editor’s note: Northern Colorado Business Report editor Tom Hacker’s partner, Karin Meyer, was a member of our family.

Karin L. Meyer died in peace at her home Nov. 11, 2007. She was 43.

Karin was born Feb. 28, 1964 in Rockford, Ill. After obtaining her journalism degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1986, she worked as a reporter and assistant city editor for a chain of papers in suburban Chicago.

She joined the Fort Collins Coloradoan in 1993, where she was assistant city editor and news editor. She received numerous awards during her tenure there, including a company-wide Dedicated to Excellence Award for implementing the paper’s redesign, two Best of Gannett Awards for headline writing and a Colorado Press Association Award for page design.

In 2001 Karin began working as a communications specialist at the Health District of Northern Larimer County, where she contributed to many projects aimed at improving the community’s health. As editor and designer, she produced award-winning editions of the Health District’s Compass quarterly newsletter and also managed the HealthInfoSource.com Web site.

She loved to cook and was an avid and creative knitter. Always looking for ways to help others in her community, she volunteered her talents to the Gardens at Spring Creek and to Golden Retriever Freedom Rescue in Denver. She enjoyed being outdoors, working in her garden or walking local trails with her sister, Sue; her partner, Tom; her beloved golden retriever, Colby, and her many friends. She also offered her constant love and support to her mother, Inge.

Karin was so early in her life, and so full of its best qualities, that those who know her find it difficult to speak of her in the past tense. She will be remembered for the way she cared for others, whether they be the people she informed through her work, her family members and friends or the pets she loved so dearly. With her quick smile and joyful laugh, she shared her optimism with all those near her. She showed inspiring resilience during her recent fight with breast cancer. Tom calls her simply “a light, to which all people around her were drawn.”

Karin was preceded in death by her father, Eberhard Meyer. She is survived by her mother, Inge Meyer; sister, Susanne Olson; partner, Tom Hacker, all in the Fort Collins area; her aunt, Ruth Warner, of Machesney Park, Ill.; cousins Kathy Van Barriger of Machesney Park, Jim Warner, of Rockford, Ill., and numerous relatives in Germany.

Two memorial services are scheduled, one at 1:30 p.m. and another at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Lincoln Center Mini Theatre, 417 W. Magnolia St., Fort Collins. A reception immediately follows the first service.

In lieu of flowers, friends may contribute to a community project in Karin’s name through the Karin Meyer Memorial at Allnutt Funeral Service, 650 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins 80526.

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