Sarah Thorn
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
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Sarah Thorn |
On Thursday, June 18, 25-year-old Sarah Langer Thorn of Girdwood passed away while hiking the Devil’s Creek Trail on the Kenai Peninsula.
Thorn was hiking with her childhood friend, Betsy Bradbury. About eight miles into the hike, Thorn complained of a migraine headache. They stopped to rest around 9 p.m., and shortly thereafter, Thorn collapsed and stopped breathing.
Bradbury, who is trained in wilderness medicine, administered life saving measures for several hours but was unable to revive her friend.
Bradbury began hiking back out around 6 a.m. and returned to the trailhead at mile 39 of the Seward Highway where she was able to get cell phone reception. The State Troopers received her call at 9:14 a.m. and sent a helicopter to investigate and recover Thorn’s body.
The cause of death was determined to be a stroke.
A family memorial was held for Sarah on Monday, June 22, near Hatcher Pass on the Little Susitna River where her grandmother, Barbara Langer Thorn, lived.
A Celebration of Life was held in Girdwood on June 24 at Maxine’s Glacier City Bistro where many friends of Sarah gathered.
Sarah was born July 16, 1983 in her childhood home in Whatcom County, Wash. She moved to Girdwood in the summer of 2006.
“She embraced winter skiing and summer bicycling and hiking , and she had a good job at the resort as a banquet captain,” said her sister, Marie Thorn. “She also worked at the Bake Shop, which was one of her first jobs when she got there. She was surrounded by a growing group of friends and was very happy.”
Sarah leaves behind her father and mother, Stephen and Diane Thorn, her older sister, Marie, and her partner of four years, Gerrit J. Van Schaick.
Her parents live in Kennecott, Alaska from April through October, and spend the rest of their time in Whatcom County. Marie Thorn has lived year-round in Kennecott since 2003.
Sarah attended Evergreen State College in Washington state, graduating with a B.A. and a focus in women’s studies.
She spent a summer in Santo Tomas, Nicaragua as a volunteer in a children’s soup kitchen. The experience left an indelible mark in her life, and added to her passion to help children in need and people in poverty.
She also witnessed the need for healthcare and equal opportunity for housing created by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
In an effort to perpetuate Sarah’s commitment to social justice, her family is going to direct contributions to charitable donations in New Orleans and Santo Tomas, Nicaragua.
Contributions may be made to Diane Thorn, P.O. Box MXY, #5A, Glennallen, AK 99588.