Message from the Head of School

To the St. Anne’s Community,
 
The Lofgren, Rittenour and Feuerbach families would like to thank you for all of the love and support you have offered us since the deaths of Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie on November 28th. These months have been difficult for us but  the kindness that the St Anne’s community has shown to our families has been helpful and healing. Alan Smiley has kept us abreast of all of the ways that you have memorialized and remembered Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie and the stories have inspired us and brought smiles to our faces in these dark times. Your school community has been hit with two very difficult events- the deaths of the Masoudi children and the deaths of the Lofgrens. Your strength to endure through both tragedies has inspired us all.
 
Since the deaths of Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie, Colorado has passed the Lofgren-Johnson Carbon Monoxide safety Act to protect Coloradans from carbon monoxide poisoning. We hope this law ensures that this preventable tragedy will not happen to any other families in Colorado.  We were so sad when the signing of this important law was scheduled during your spring break. The event would have been transformed with your presence – you would have brought a piece of Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie to the affair. Our families felt your absence and wished the governor could have rescheduled it so that you all could have attended.
 
In the coming months, our families intend to memorialize Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie by donating benches to the Colorado Community. These benches will be placed around Denver and Vail, in places that they loved, in places where they spent a lot of quality time. One bench will be placed at St. Anne’s, a place that the Lofgrens loved and were welcomed from the first day Owen walked through those doors. We hope you will find comfort and will remember this amazing family when you sit on these benches.  For years to come, the story of the Lofgrens will be passed on through these benches and we hope the St. Anne’s community finds comfort and fond memories in this gift.
 
Since November, our family has grieved tremendously yet we have learned to appreciate and value a lot in life. The St. Anne’s community has demonstrated how wonderful humanity can be.  Your school has embraced us, comforted us, and even opened your homes to us. You have shared your memories of Parker, Caroline, Owen and Sophie, and we feel so connected to them through your tales of their daily lives,  through the pictures of past school events, and even through stories of current ongoing events at the school. You have shown us how loved they were and through your outreach, we have experienced the St. Anne’s community.
 
We hope that as time passes, your memories of the Lofgrens do not fade but grow deeper. We can all learn from their lives and live each day in the manner that they would – with an adventurous spirit, a kind and open heart, vitality and joy, and the strength to carry on.
 
Love and peace,
The Lofgren, Rittenour, and Feuerbach families
5/11/09
 
 
Alan Smiley
Head of School
(303)756-9481