Kristin Lawrence of Carbondale died at home on July 23, 2025.
Kristin was a resident of the area for 53 years, spending her first few decades living in Woody Creek and then building her dream home in Carbondale where she has resided for the past 30-plus years.
Kristin was drawn to Colorado over 50 years ago because of her love of skiing and the pull of stunning natural beauty in the area. Wanting to share her passion for skiing, she founded and ran for decades the Snow Puppies Ski School at Aspen Highlands. It was the first ski school in the country devoted exclusively to teaching 3- to 6-year-olds how to ski. She instilled and fostered her love of skiing and deep reverence for nature in the thousands of young children she and her team taught. What made Snow Puppies so special and successful was that Kristin not only wanted to teach kids to ski, but also to make them feel good about themselves.
Kristin lived a life of integrity, kindness, grace and compassion, and she loved making people laugh. She touched the lives of thousands of people, from the kids she taught and their families, to her friends and those in the community. She is survived by her three sisters and nine nieces and nephews, along with her beloved Peachie. The family wants to extend their deep and heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to her caregivers at the Calaway-Young Cancer Center, Hospice of the Valley and, last but not least, her dear friends Marci Beattie and Judy Musser, whose friendship and care allowed Kristin to die at home, independently, as she wished. As everyone who knew her was aware, Kristin was fiercely independent and stubborn … right up until the end!
An informal memorial will be held at her home at 5357 Rimledge Road (Whispering Winds) in Carbondale on Oct. 4 at 3pm. For those unable to attend who wish to share their memories of Kristin with her family, we ask that you send a note to her sister, Kim Lawrence, at 35 Woodlea Lane, Briarcliff Manor, New York 10510 — or 216-316-5282. For those skiing at Aspen Highlands, remember to leave some Life Savers at Puppy Point in memory of Kristin. We will miss Kristin terribly and each of our worlds will be a little darker with her no longer with us.