During the evening of Monday, June 22, 2020, Geoff Ochsner, age 50, passed from the world while running the home trails that he loved so much. A curious soul who loved his community, Geoff devoted a small part of each day to reading about the lives of those who passed before him. We hope this small accounting of his life will make him smile.
Geoff was born in New Orleans and spent most of his childhood outside of Lynchburg, Virginia, where he developed a lifelong love of music and animals. He earned a BA in Psychology from Vanderbilt University where he also met Elizabeth, his spouse and life partner of over 27 years. He earned MA and EdS degrees in Counseling Psychology from James Madison University and in 1994 moved to Boulder to begin his career as an intern at the Boulder Community Mental Health Center. There he met many amazing, caring mentors and friends who would shape his work with children and families in the years and decades to come. Throughout his career, Geoff was an unflinching witness to the pain and struggles we face. He put his time, his energy, and even more his heart into helping strengthen the wounded and the vulnerable. He never looked away.
Geoff’s two sons will carry on his insightful and curious nature and his joyous sense of humor. Geoff loved. He loved his family and friends, his music and his birds, sunrises and sunsets, and he treasured his many adventures throughout Colorado and the West.
His tribe is heartbroken. And to his tribe:
“There’s release in knowing the truth no matter how anguishing it is. You come finally to the irreducible thing, and there’s nothing left to do but pick it up and hold it. Then, at last, you can enter the severe mercy of acceptance.” ~Sue Monk Kidd
Geoff is survived by his wife Elizabeth and their sons, Ben and Elliot; his brother Jon of Atlanta, GA; his parents, Dr. and Mrs. (Cyndy) Fred Ochsner of Coleman Falls, VA; and his in-laws Dr. and Mrs. Warren Holland of Columbia, SC, Ginny Holland of Atlantic Beach, FL, and Warren Holland of Charlotte, NC.
The family plans to hold a celebration of Geoff’s life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting Geoff’s love of birds and music through a donation in his name to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology or The Kofi Burbridge Music Matters Fund.
(Originally published in the July 2, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
