Wendy A. Hawthorne
May 10, 2025
After a sudden and brief battle with aggressive reproductive cancer, longtime Denver resident, Wendy Hawthorne, passed away at the age of 59 at The Denver Hospice on Saturday, May 10, 2025 in the loving care of her partner Sina Pierret. New Jersey-born, fierce champion for the underdog, steadfast friend, tentmate, teammate, mentor, activist, and devoted family member, Wendy will be remembered for the indelible stamp she left on the lives and communities she touched.
From the dunes of the Jersey Shore and wedge of woods behind her childhood home, to the wilderness areas of Colorado’s high country and Denver’s urban creek paths, and from the Redwood groves of California to the deserts of the Southwest, Wendy derived solace, inspiration, and fuel for her rebellious spirit from communing with nature’s gifts. She lived to reciprocate those gifts in immeasurable ways through her tireless efforts toward a just and sustainable world built from heart, intellect, humble commitment, and joyful humor.
Wendy attended Princeton University and earned a B.S. in Engineering, Energy, and Environmental Studies. A fabled summer cross-country road trip during college with a lifelong childhood friend opened Wendy’s eyes to the splendors of the Western US. Ultimately, she moved to Colorado for graduate school at CU Boulder in 1992 where she pursued an M.S. in Building Systems Engineering. After completing graduate school, she combined her academic excellence with her passions and built an impressive career of intersectional problem solving in arenas related to energy and environmental conservation, housing, youth empowerment, and community building, all with a laser focus on equity.
Her career included serving as the Executive Director of Groundwork Denver for 11 years. Under her leadership, Groundwork Denver became an award-winning trusted partner of the city’s low-income communities and agencies on environmental justice and equity projects. She also served as the Deputy Director of Colorado’s Division of Housing and at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as the Senior Project Director for Equity. In 2023 Wendy was honored to be hired as the Director of Strategic Coordination of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding for the State of Colorado, leading statewide strategy to maximize investments in Colorado. Through this, and in other positions across her impactful career, Wendy helped achieve what a proclamation from Governor Jared Polis called “a generational shift in climate resilience for Coloradans,” when he designated May 3, 2025, as “Wendy Hawthorne Day”.
Wendy’s values were also an underlying theme in her community involvement. She was a volunteer and advocate for a range of organizations, including Pastors for Peace, the Denver Justice and Peace Center, Engineers without Borders, and more. She actively participated in both local and national political campaigns, and inspired others to do the same. Wendy was also passionate about protecting animals– following a vegan lifestyle, rescuing injured wildlife, and supporting the Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, as well as calling attention to policies that harmed animals. She also loved cats, adopting, fostering, and rescuing and rehoming dozens of cats throughout her life.
Mentorship was also a key theme for Wendy–at work, in her volunteer roles, and personally. In her thirties, Wendy chose to become a mentor to two young girls, Carmen Robinson and Shivawni Kenney. These relationships became an anchor in Wendy’s life, and her in theirs, developing into deep, intimate, and lifelong family connections of support and love.
If Wendy sounds like someone you would’ve liked to have met, consider a few of the many ways your paths might’ve crossed: opening your door to Wendy offering a free energy efficient lightbulb or asking you to commit to voting; marching at a protest or a Pride parade; watching a CU Boulder women’s basketball game; or dancing to live music at Red Rocks or at a party.
It was through a proclamation of a love of dancing that her partner Sina was first drawn into Wendy’s life in 2020–a life they were lovingly sharing together at the time that Wendy was diagnosed with cancer this March. The strong and quiet happiness of their connection was obvious to, and touched, all who knew them.
Along with Sina, Carmen, and Shivawni, Wendy leaves behind her mother, Lisbeth Werhan (née Heyman), her sister, Christine Patafio (John), nieces and nephews David and Coryn, brother Thomas Hawthorne (Susan), nieces and nephews Rebecca, Nicholas, Liam and Aine, and cousins Carolyn Stahl Price, Susan Stahl Wojcik, and Doug Stahl.
Wendy will be dearly missed by her family and global community of friends and colleagues.
Donations
In lieu of flowers, consider donating in honor of Wendy’s life and values to The Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Endowment Fund and the Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue in her name.
