Valerie Kay Arnold

Valerie Kay Arnold, 48, of Fort Collins, died Saturday, February 1, 2020 at home with her family.

Valerie was born in Ely, Nevada to Harlan and Alice Arnold and lived in Salt Lake City, Utah before moving to Fort Collins. She was the youngest of seven children.

Valerie was a graduate of Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins and received her a BA in English, an MA in Education and a Juris Doctor degree, all from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Valerie clerked for the Colorado Court of Appeals right out of Law School then was an Assistant Attorney General for Colorado. She advised the Division of Real Estate at that time then did Family Law and Construction Defect Litigation. She worked as a deputy monitor for the City and County of Denver. Valerie then moved back to Fort Collins, becoming a realtor and most recently worked for Hub Real Estate.

Val was involved with many community organizations. She was a board member of the Red Cross of Northern Colorado, a board member of the City of Fort Collins Transportation Board, active with the Red Carpet Committee and sat on the Local Legislative Affairs Committee for the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce. She was a Trustee for the Poudre River Public Library District, an associate board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County and a graduate of Leadership Fort Collins. She was a Rotary member and an active supporter of the RYLA Leadership Camp.

Valerie was named the 2018 Chamber Volunteer of the Year and just prior to her death, the executive committee of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution renaming the annual "Volunteer of the Year Award" as the "Valerie Arnold Volunteer of the Year Award".

Valerie's favorite pastime was reading. She loved the classics and historical novels but would read anything that interested her. She was also a writer, writing children's stories for her nieces, as well as many short stories, and she had been writing a suspense novel for several years. She loved the mountains, hiking, beaches and all genres of music. Val was a master of connecting people based on interests or needs and she loved the art of negotiation.

Valerie is survived by her siblings, Brian Arnold (Denise), Noreen Arnold (Bill), Laurie Theurer (Ken), Janet Hackleman (Mark) and Neil Arnold (Dorothy); nieces Krista Crump (Nate), Emily St. Cyr (Wesley) Kaitlyn Hackleman, Paige and Riley Arnold. Nephews, Matthew Brien (Jessica), Marc Brien (Libby), Philip Theurer, Timothy Theurer (Amber), Bryan Hackleman, Zachary Theurer and Seth Arnold; great nieces Adelaide and Penelope Brien, Stella Brien, Aliyah and Lydia Theurer; and great nephew Elijah Theurer. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harlan Arnold and Alice Arnold.

A Memorial Service for Valerie will be held on February 29 at 2:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 531 S College Ave, Fort Collins. If so moved, please bring a children's or teen book for any age to donate in her memory. Books will be donated to First Presbyterian Church's book drive.

A Celebration of Life Event will be held the following day, March 1 at 2:00 pm at the Drake Center, 802 W Drake Rd. We will start the program at 2:08 in honor of Val's tardiness. As this is a celebration of Val's life, we encourage guests to wear "colors of the sunset", if desired.

Memorial contributions may be made in Val's memory to any of the organizations listed above that Valerie was an integral part of: American Red Cross of Northern Colorado ( https://www.redcross.org/local/colorado/about-us/Locations/northern-colorado.html ), Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County ( https://www.begreatlarimer.org/ ), Faith Family Hospitality ( https://www.faithfamilyhospitality.org/ ), Poudre River Public Library District ( https://www.poudrelibraries.org/ ), and Rocky Mountain RYLA ( https://www.rmryla.org/ ).

"I had three chairs in my house: One for solitude, two for friendship, three for society." Henry David Thoreau.