Heather Blauvelt

Heather Renee Blauvelt, formerly Heather Hilsabeck, passed away peacefully on January 4, 2021, while in hospice care in the Denver, Colorado, area after suffering a series of strokes and seizures. She was 65.

Heather was born in Seattle, Washington, to John and Arlene Hilsabeck on July 14, 1955, along with her twin sister Heidi. Heather, her sister and their older brother, Hale Hilsabeck, grew up together and lived in several cities due to their father’s career with the telephone company. These included Seattle; Syosset, New York; Des Moines, Iowa; and Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha is where Heather truly considered her hometown to be, as she spent the majority of her youth and early adulthood there.

Heather attended Westside High School in Omaha, graduating in 1973. She also attended the Nancy Bounds modeling school in Omaha. She held numerous jobs in retail outlets specializing in children’s clothes and then women’s clothing in Omaha, including the Virgie’s Town and Country store at Countryside Village, and The Tailored Woman store in the Old Mill area, which was connected to the Landon’s menswear store. She greatly enjoyed hobbies such as reading, home decorating, shopping, crafting and beading, as well as caring for her two Maltese dogs, Angel and Dickens.

In October 1978, Heather married Randal “Randy” Blauvelt in Omaha, where they continued to live for many years. Later, they resided in the Des Moines area for three years, and then moved to Thornton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, in late 2002, where they remained. Heather left the world of work behind in 1999 when they made the move to Des Moines. After that she happily and actively concentrated on helping her aging parents and her disabled sister handle many of life’s details and difficult transitions.

To many, Heather truly was viewed as an angel on earth and a beloved friend. She was smart, strong, warm, compassionate, hard-working and friendly, even while facing many serious health challenges of her own during her lifetime. She will be sorely missed and very fondly remembered.

Heather was preceded in death by her father in 2008 and her mother in 2019. Left to grieve her passing are her loving husband of 42 years, Randy; her twin sister, Heidi; her brother, Hale; and numerous beloved nieces, nephews, aunts, cousins and friends.

At a later date, due to covid-19 issues and other considerations, there will be a celebration of Heather’s life, and separately her ashes will be interred at a graveside service at Heather and Randy’s gravestone, which will be near where her parents are buried at Prairie Home Cemetery in Holdrege, Nebraska. The tentative month for this is July 2021. (Even though Heather never lived in Holdrege, her father and husband were both born and raised there, and while growing up she spent many happy summer days and holidays in Holdrege with her Hilsabeck cousins, uncles, aunts and grandfather.)

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Heather’s name to the American Stroke Association at https://www.stroke.org .

For the eventual graveside service, Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege will be utilized.

Please share your memories of Heather and condolences with her family by signing the Tribute Wall.