Obituary: Flo Habenicht
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June 2, 1931 – May 20, 2020
Florence June Habenicht. “Flo” passed away peacefully in her sleep on May 20, 2020 in Broomfield, Colorado at age 88. She was born June 2, 1931 in Denver, Colorado; the daughter of Torey Gus Peterson and Hazel Louise (Evans) Peterson.
As a young girl Flo loved riding her horses Nellie and Denver Boy and catching lizards. She graduated from Bear Creek Valley High School in Mt. Morrison, Colorado in 1949. She married Henry “Hank” Habenicht, an Air Force B29 tail gunner, in Denver on May 7, 1954. As an Air Force wife Flo lived in Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, North Dakota and California.
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Flo received an Associates Degree from Merced College in 1972, a Bachelor’s Degree from Chapman College in 1974 and received her Teaching Credential in 1977. She was a 6th grade teacher at St. Jude School in Winton, California.
Flo moved back to Colorado in 1980 and built her home in West Vail. In her early years in Vail she worked at the Valley Forge shop in Vail Village. She received her Real Estate License in 1982 then worked at Vail Ski School and retired from Vail Associates after 20 years at Vail Ski School.
Flo was a member of the Happy Hikers hiking group of Vail and enjoyed hiking with her friends in the Colorado mountains including climbing several 14ers. Flo climbed her last 14er with her son Tom when she was 63. She enjoyed trips with friends to Australia, Egypt and Fiji and loved camping in Colorado and New Mexico. She also enjoyed downhill and cross country skiing and snow shoeing and even competed in a few snow shoe races. Flo volunteered at the Vail Rummage Sale for many years along with many of her friends. She was a member of the Minturn Seniors and enjoyed activities and social events with her fellow seniors. Her favorite activity with the Minturn Seniors was creating “Flo’s Haunted Closet” each Halloween season. Her haunted closet delighted (and scared) both the seniors and the students at Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy in Minturn. Flo’s motto was “go with the Flo”.
Flo is survived by her son Tom Habenicht of Broomfield, granddaughter Kaitlyn Merriman of Vail and niece Pat Peterson of Austin, Texas. She was predeceased by her parents and her brothers Richard, Raymond and Elwood.
A memorial and celebration of Flo’s life will be held at 2 pm Saturday, August 29th, 2020 at Donovan Pavilion, West Vail, Colorado.
