Earlier this week, the Pitkin County Coroner’s office identified the 22-year-old woman who died in an Aspen skiing accident as Eileen Deborah Sheahan of Illinois.
At Aspen Highlands Ski Resort, she hit a tree while skiing on the Exhibition ski run, an intermediate trail below the Merry-Go-Round restaurant. Upon arriving at the scene, she was pronounced dead after being taken to Aspen Valley Hospital by the coroner.
Sheahan had possessed a helmet at one point, but it is unclear whether she was wearing it at the time of the crash, according to Pitkin County Chief Deputy Coroner Audra Keith. During the accident, a tree was reported to have been hit by the helmet.
Trauma caused by blunt force.
A legacy.com obituary describes Sheahan as a 31-year-old Evanston, Illinois, native. Loyola Academy in Wilmette was her high school and St. Joan of Arc was her grade school.
Her final year at Michigan would culminate in the graduation of an economics degree in May. As a result of the many friends she made at each school, she was often said to feel fortunate to have been able to attend each.
Erin, Margaret, and Michael Sheahan, as well as Patricia O’Brien and Terrence Sheahan, survive her.
In her words, “Eileen loved life and the people she was lucky enough to call friends. It is said in her obituary on Legacy.com that the love, laughter, and compassion she demonstrated throughout her life will never be forgotten.
At Old Saint Patrick’s Church in Chicago, a mass funeral was held on Monday.
