The first thing he noticed was how gorgeous she was.
It was impossible, of course, to miss the tall brunette in the Minturn Middle School classroom where Andy Dennis and Heidi Hanssen met as teachers more than 20 years ago.
He quickly learned there was much more to her. A smile that illuminated every space she occupied. The charisma and confidence she exuded when he invited her on a southwestern Colorado ski trip with friends and she turned to him on the chairlift and asked: “So are you going to kiss me or what?” Of course he obliged.
What really stuck with him was his partner’s passion for education, a career to which she dedicated 25 years as a classroom teacher and principal. Teaching was the hardest job Dennis ever had. Hansen, though, “was just born for it.”
“She had the perfect personality for it,” Dennis said. “She listened to everyone — didn’t matter when, where, what it was about — she just really cared. She knew how to make people feel loved and paid attention to.”
That was the case everywhere she went, starting in Eagle County, continuing overseas and ending in Ridgway, where Hanssen spent three years as the principal of Ridgway Elementary School.
After two battles with cancer, she died on Sept. 2 at the age of 47. Her friends, family and members of the school community will host a going-away party and a toast — she insisted it not be called a celebration of life — from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Top of the Pines, 1035 Highland Drive.
The event is fitting to remember a woman who loved being outside. Hanssen developed her love of the outdoors — and of education — growing up in Minnesota. She took after her mother, who worked as a special needs teacher.
She landed her first teaching job in Eagle County, then after a few years worked her way up into school administration as an elementary school principal. When she wasn’t in the classroom, she immersed herself in the outdoors — skiing, mountain biking, hiking, running and traveling. Dennis said she rued wasting even one day sitting around inside. Why do that when there was so much adventure to pursue?
Hanssen and Dennis adored their lives in Eagle County. It was easy to live there and they were happy in their jobs. But they began itching for a new challenge. Their friends were having kids, and that would keep them busy.
Hanssen began applying for jobs in Europe, and she and Dennis married in 2016, making it easier for him to obtain a visa. She was eventually hired as the elementary principal of an international school in Rome. They spent three years there, then two more in Barcelona at another American international school.
In the midst of the pandemic, they decided they were ready to return to the U.S. They considered Washington and Montana, but Colorado called to them. Hanssen spotted the job posting at Ridgway Elementary and submitted her resume. Ridgway School District Superintendent Susan Lacy and a committee picked her from a group of 14 applicants.
Hanssen’s penchant for being honest and genuine shined through when she met Lacy for the first time in person.
“I said, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize you were so tall,’ Lacy recalled. “And she said, ‘I didn’t realize you were so small.’” Hanssen took to Ridgway and the intimate school community immediately. She hosted a gathering for school staff at her home before her first day on the job so she could become acquainted with them. She had the same desire to get to know the students.
“She was a consummate professional,” Lacy said. “I think she knew every student’s name in the first few weeks of school. That was really important to her, that I’m not just going to greet children with ‘hello,’ I’m going to greet them by name.”
She said Hanssen treated all students, no matter how challenging they could be, with unconditional respect. She believed in their potential and set a high bar for her staff to meet.
“She could get people to follow her and see what was good for kids,” Dennis said. “It was always about what was best for kids. If it wasn’t good for kids, it wasn’t going to happen.”
Hanssen regularly wore a dress and heels, donning a yellow dress on rainy days. She kept a pair of tweezers in her car to maintain her eyebrows — not out of a sense of vanity but a desire to set an example by looking and acting professional.
She also managed to keep a healthy balance between work and life. It wasn’t unusual for her to arrive at school at 7:30 a.m., go for a run on County Road 5 at 4 p.m., and return in time for a 5 p.m. school board meeting, dressed and ready to share the elementary school’s successes and challenges.
She was diagnosed with cancer in December 2021, less than six months after she started as principal. Surgery and chemotherapy followed. She lost all of her hair. But rather than hide the disease, she used it as a teaching moment, sending a letter to staff and families and openly discussing it with students.
“It was that humility that was inspirational,” Lacy said. “She let every person know we all have challenges and we need to be as positive as we can.”
The cancer went into remission, only to return last year.
“That just crushed her,” Dennis said. “She lost a ton of weight. She couldn’t eat.”
Her death triggered an outpouring of support. Parents prepared lunch for the staff. Students created paper hearts in memory of their principal and sent them to Hanssen’s family.
“It’s just what you need. It’s overwhelming. It’s warming. It’s everything you want out of a small community. From what I’m learning, it’s a very solitary emotion. It takes a community to get through that path,” Dennis said.
In addition to Saturday’s event, Lacy said the school will plan a dedication to Hanssen next spring.
“I feel so fortunate that she found Ridgway in her last three years. What she gave us far surpassed anything we were able to give to her,” she said.
