Carol Louise Heinley

Carol Louise Heinley (née Powe), age 75, passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 13, 2024, after a brief battle with cancer.

She was born on January 27, 1949, to Claude and Florence Powe, and grew up in Central City, Colorado with her (late) older sister Barbara and younger brother Robert.

Due to the mountainous terrain and sharp drop-offs near her childhood home, she never learned to ride a bicycle. For some strange reason, she also never learned to whistle. She did, however, get into the sort of trouble that mountain born children are capable of, and by all accounts inherited equal parts of both her no-nonsense mother’s personality, and her father’s US Marine-turned-newspaperman’s boisterous nature.

After graduating from Gilpin County High School in 1966, she began studies at the University of Colorado and enlisted in the US Army student nurse program in 1968. Around this time, while working part time at a candy shop in Central City, she was wooed by a questionable but handsome young Texan serving in the US Air Force at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, and, in December 1968 she married Benjamin Heinley.

Carol served as an active-duty army nurse until 1973 and continued to serve as a nurse in the US Army Reserve with the 5502nd unit based at Fitzsimons Army Base until 1992 retiring with the rank of LieutenantColonel.

She worked as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver for 40 years, spending much of that time in the recovery room, skillfully taking care of thousands of patients, and sharing her caring spirit with both her patients and her coworkers.

She was blessed by deep friendships throughout her life, enjoyed the mountains where she grew up, sewing, quilting and crafting, and collecting all manner of random items in her house, in the thought that they might someday “come in handy.” This trait has been passed on, at least in part, to her children and grandchildren.

Her children were blessed by the reassurance that she could deftly discern childhood illnesses and were given appropriate treatment to prevent death or disability, however they were also cruelly prohibited from using fake illnesses as an excuse to skip school in their early years. “No fever, no broken bones, off to school for you!” was the mantra of Carol’s household. Her shrewd triage style family management notwithstanding, her husband, both of her children and all four of her grandchildren were blessed by her love.

Carol is survived by Benjamin, her husband of 56 years, her son Scott and his wife Tomomi, and her daughter Sarah and her husband Ryan, and four grandchildren whom she loved with all her heart.

Carol’s funeral service will be held at Ft. Logan Cemetery on September 5 at 2:00 PM.

Carol would want to be celebrated and not mourned, so please wear comfortable and colorful clothes to celebrate her life.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Operation Smile or Doctors Without Borders.