March 9, 1965 to December 16, 2022

Loren Stacy Happel Kinnaman said goodbye to this earth on Friday night, December 16, 2022. She breathed her last while being held by her husband, Matt, and their two children, Kaelin and Caleb.

Loren was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2020, and for 25 months, she fought with faith and courage, never surrendering her belief that life will win in the end. In her closing days, although she could not speak, she nonetheless, in her spirit, expressed her confidence and peace that she was approaching the eternal light of Christ, where she now enjoys healing, wholeness, peace, and joy forever in his presence.

Loren was born on March 9, 1965, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Marvin and Janet (Hader) Happel. She graduated from Newtown (Connecticut) High School in 1983, attended Gordon College, and graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1987. She received her Master's Degree in Education from Regent University in 2004.

Loren dedicated her professional life to teaching and to her students, each of whom she loved and nurtured in heart and mind with unfailing energy and devotion, even during her cancer treatments, never being dissuaded or discouraged in her mission and always pursuing each new day in the classroom with a combination of wonder and joy that touched hundreds of children over the years. Loren also carried this spirit into and across many summers of counseling and teaching in youth camp programs at New England Keswick in Monterey, Massachusetts.

Loren's presence and impact on education extended to her many years of service as a board member of the Lee-Tyringham School District, the Farmington River School District, and Lee town committees dedicated to students and youth.

Loren was a ski instructor, avid free skier, runner, road and mountain biker, hiker, swim teacher, and lover of the outdoors and the endless adventures to be found there.

She was a beautiful singer whose uniquely sweet voice reached deep into the hearts of those who heard her.

She was a member of Mountain Life Church in Park City, Utah.

Loren and her husband Matt were married on June 1, 1985, in Brookfield, Connecticut. In the 37 years of their marriage, they lived in Rhode Island, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, and, most recently, in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Their two children, Kaelin and Caleb, were born in the Berkshires and now live in Utah.

Loren's entire life was infused with, informed by, and energized by her undying faith in Jesus of Nazareth, whom she loved and followed with all of her heart. This faith gave Loren her purpose for each day, her steady and generous love for others, her amazing resilience in suffering, her enduring energy, her determination to make the most of every opportunity, and her quiet wisdom through which she navigated the mysteries and challenges of life and helped others do the same.

Loren's family, who now carries on with the gift of having known her presence in our lives, includes her husband, Matt (Kamas, Utah); her father and mother, Marvin and Janet Happel (Newtown, Connecticut); her children, Kaelin Sierra (Midway, Utah) and Caleb Matthew and his wife Elizabeth (Eagle Mountain, Utah); her siblings, Kristin Cicciari (Newtown, Connecticut), Jonathan Happel (Hamilton, Massachusetts), and Alison Vreeland (Atlanta, Georgia); along with her siblings-in-law; and her nieces and nephews, with whom she enjoyed so many laughs, celebrations, ski runs, fireside moments, trips, adventures, and birthday parties.

The family warmly invites all to gather to remember Loren and celebrate her life on Monday, January 9, at 1:30 pm at the First Congregational Church of Lee, 25 Park Place, Lee, Massachusetts, with a reception immediately following at the church. Burial will be in the spring in Corashire Cemetery in Monterey, Massachusetts.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Loren's memory to Telos Classical Academy, 7375 Silver Creek Road, Park City UT 84098, for the Loren Kinnaman Memorial Scholarship Fund.