Heidi Lieben Hochstrasser

1987 - 2016

Heidi - Lieben Hochstrasser, 29



Heidi Lieben Hochstrasser passed away December 4, 2016 after a traffic accident in Driggs, Idaho. She was 29 years old, but in those brief years she lived a full and remarkable life that touched many people with her adventurous spirit, her many skills, and her sparkling energy.

Heidi was born March 21, 1987, in San Francisco, California. She started pre-school in the Netherlands where her family lived for a year before returning to Fairfax, California. There she attended Manor Elementary School, playing soccer and softball and acting in plays. She was in sixth grade when the family moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where she attended Wickham Elementary, Northwest Junior High, and West High School; she played flute and volleyball, toured Italy and the Galapagos with school classes, and traveled with her family to Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey. She enjoyed making art and music, riding horses, hiking, fishing and skiing with her family, and caring for family pets.

Her college years at the University of California, Santa Cruz, began with their Wilderness Orientation; she subsequently helped lead those trips, got certified as a Wilderness First Responder, and worked for UCSC Recreational Services leading other student excursions, from backpacking and kayaking to wine-tasting. She lived in the Laurel Manor "Food Not Lawns" Co-op, tending an extensive garden with fruit trees, ducks, rabbits, and chickens they slaughtered themselves when they needed chicken soup; she made jams and wine from their plums and wood-fired pizzas in their home-built cobb oven. She taught kids at the Life Lab at the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, gave classes on gardening and baking and permaculture through the Santa Cruz Free Skool, and interned with the WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children) in Watsonville, California. Her semester studying abroad in Concepción, Chile prompted her whole family to meet her in Peru to hike the Inka Trail to Macchu Picchu; she and her boyfriend Jacob went on backpacking through the Atacama Desert and down to Tierra del Fuego. She graduated from UCSC in 2010 with the B.A. in Women's Studies and the B.S. in Health Sciences.

After college Heidi helped start up Companion Bakeshop in Santa Cruz, where she took on pastry production, sold at farmer's markets, delivered around town by bicycle, and wound up co-managing the bakery. She led volunteer urban foraging with the Santa Cruz Fruit Tree Project, participated in CSA's (Consumer Supported Agriculture) and WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms). She built her own bicycle and toured from Barcelona over the Pyrenees and through France, exploring baking methods at patisseries en route and ending with a cooking class in Paris. Two years ago she and Jacob moved to Driggs, Idaho, where they helped build and then run the Teton Rock Gym. She designed their logos, taught climbing, started and coached a traveling team, founded and ran a summer youth climbing camp, and provided a climbing program for local schools, where she also worked as a substitute teacher. Adventures with food continued too: proofing breads for 460 Bakery, catering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; when she and Jacob butchered their own venison, she made jerky and pâté; this fall they successfully hunted an elk and again dressed it themselves. And she continued to hike and climb and ski and fish all across the western US, treating her fortunate friends and family to beautiful hand-made cards, delicious healthy food, and masterful baked goods from profiteroles to canelés.

Graceful climber and skier, skilled baker and artist, much-loved teacher and coach, Heidi was fearless in the kitchen, intrepid in the wilds, full of joy and loving energy. She is survived by her parents Scott L and Julie Berger Hochstrasser (Tomales, CA); her two brothers Franz (Washington D.C.) and Hans (Elkhorn, WI) along with Hans' wife Renee and their children Aubree, Cohen, and Eldin; her grandparents John and Viola Berger (Chico, CA); and her boyfriend Jacob Yufa (Driggs, ID). A memorial service was held in Driggs on Sunday, December 11; another celebration of her life is planned for Fairfax, California March 25, 2017, details to follow. Donations are welcomed at HeidiLieben.org to support the causes she so passionately furthered.