Sarah Hartmann Danser

1990 - 2024

Sarah Danser, 34 years old and a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, passed away following an automobile accident in which she was riding as a passenger. Born in Denver to Dan Danser and Ellen Cates, she grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado and attended Academy Charter School and Douglas County High School before receiving a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado. During college she volunteered as a dental assistant in Guatemala and immediately after graduating taught biology in a private school in Cameroon, Africa.
Sarah spent her youth in Colorado, far from the sea, where she climbed 14ers, hiked the Colorado Trail, skied, snowboarded and engaged in other outdoor activities, but nonetheless became an accomplished SCUBA diver and developed an abiding love of the ocean.
She moved to Hawaii in 2014 and worked initially as a divemaster. She then bought a live-aboard sailboat and learned to sail. Her passion for boating led her to earn her Master Captain's License and thereafter lead large whale-watching, deep sea fishing and SCUBA diving excursions out of Honolulu. On her last major voyage, in the summer of 2024, she served aboard a commercial vessel in Alaska. In her journal, she wrote that if she had a business card that allowed only one word, that word would be ""Adventurer.""
During her time as an avid sailor she also appeared repeatedly on the television survival shows Naked and Afraid and Fight to Survive. As a result of those TV appearances her name and image remain widespread on the internet and streaming services.
Sarah was smart, competent and creative. She did serious mechanical work on both her 4X4 and her sailboat, drew portraits, birthday cards and countless pictures for friends, acted, learned two foreign languages and began writing about her life and adventures. Her positive energy and unebbing spirit earned her friends and colleagues around the world. She was curious and fiercely independent, but most of all she helped those around her to find joy and live their best lives. Through times of doubt and hardship Sarah always found a way both to achieve her own goals and to inspire others.
Although her life was sadly cut short, Sarah lived it to the fullest.
She is survived by her father Dan (Vitha) Danser and brother Jake Danser, both of Douglas County, by her aunt Lorraine Danser and cousin Jonnae (Troy) Walker of Long Island, and by many other relatives. She was preceded in death by her mother Ellen Joy Cates Danser. She was an organ donor and has been cremated. Her remains were committed to the sea in Hawaii and to the earth in Colorado. An open-air celebration of her life will be held at 2:00 p.m., April 26, 2025 at her childhood home, 3900 West Park Ridge Road, Sedalia, CO 80135. All friends are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Douglas Land Conservancy.