Kerri Renee Laman

Update: Service details below. Kerri R Laman age 40, died on March 21, 2018, at Poudre Valley Hospital surrounded by family. She fought a long battle with multiple autoimmune diseases. Kerri was misdiagnosed until last year and she wants to see education and research in autoimmune disease help lead to faster diagnosis and better options for treatment. Kerri grew up in Fort Collins, attending school here until transferring to the School for the Deaf and Blind in Colorado Springs. She graduated from high school as Salutatorian of her class. She was the first student to use a guide dog while still attending the school. She attended Front Range Community College where she studied Early Childhood Education. She then attended CSU graduating with a major in Human Development and Family Studies with a focus on Early Childhood Education. During college she worked at Edora Pool and Ice Center (EPIC) teaching in the Skate and Create program. After college, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she worked for an employment agency and developed a program for teaching disabled clients skills for finding employment. She also lived in Kitchener, Ontario and Lindsay, Ontario where she really enjoyed the friendly people of Canada. When she was in 4th grade she was able to skate with Peter Caruthers before an Ice Capades performance. After that she decided that she should take lessons. She also participated in skating competitions. She loved ice skating and felt like she was flying when she skated. It was a feeling of freedom that she did not experience in other life experiences. Kerri was born 3 ½ months prematurely along with her twin brother, Kristopher, who died 8 hours after birth. She had vision loss from birth but didn’t let that stop her from just about anything. She got her first guide dog, Gina, while in high school and had several dogs, the last one being from the Humane Society. Kerri taught her to guide, pick up items, open doors and turn on lights. She helped others with advice about service dogs. She connected with many people in groups where she shared her experiences in health problems and getting diagnosed and treated as well as tube feedings and other medical care. Many nurses over the years have said that Kerri has taught them something. Kerri called herself a Professional Patient. She never gave up hope and fought for her independence and quality of life. Kerri loved to read, loved anime and especially a Japanese pop group called Momoclo and listened to many types of music. She loved her dogs Sophie and Mandy. She enjoyed communication with others both texting and online. She played Goalball at the School for the Deaf and Blind and she played Beep Baseball on a team in Loveland. Kerri was a Christian and enjoyed sharing opinions and reading scripture with others. She is survived by her father Kevin Laman (Betty), her mother Lynn Murphy, Grandmother Marilyn Laman, sisters Kimberly Chevalier (Richard), and Mandy Laman, and brother Michael Pisarcik (Pui), and two very cute nephews, Aiden and Bodhi. She is also survived by uncles Rick (Marjane), Joel (Sue), Ken (Becky), Karl (Karen) and Paul (Leann) and her Aunt Paula (Tim) as well as many cousins. She was proceeded in death by her twin brother Kristopher, her uncle Marc, her grandfathers Roy and Charles and grandmother Lorraine. Kerri had many friends and touched many lives in her years. We want to thank everyone who prayed for her at birth and who prayed for her during the time of her illness and her death. She was very enjoyable, intelligent, funny, loving and caring towards others. She was an educator of many things to many people, more than she realized. An open house will be held from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, Saturday, April 7 at Club Tico at City Park, 1599 City Park Dr., Fort Collins, CO. Lunch will be provided. Kerri will be laid to rest in Resthaven Memorial Gardens near her brother Kristopher. Kerri asks that in lieu of flowers people donate to The Center for Multisystem Disease Foundation at IMMUNOe, 6801 South Yosemite Street, Centennial, CO 80112.