Erika Lee

"There's going to be very painful moments in your life that will change your entire world in a matter of minutes. These moments will change YOU. Let them make you stronger, smarter and kinder. But don't become someone you're not. Cry-scream if you have to-then, you straighten out that crown and keep it moving."-Erika, February 13, 2018

It is with great sadness we must announce the sudden passing of Erika Lynn Lee on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at the age of 30, due to complications of a longstanding medical condition. Alongside her baby brother Ozzie, she now watches over her family and close friends.

Erika moved to Colorado to find herself and took her final breaths in the place where she felt the safest and most at peace. In the past year, Erika strived and reached several personal goals, including completing a sign language course (her passion), moving her and Piper back to the mountains, and landing a full-time day job with benefits. She was proud of herself and was looking forward to finding out what the rest of her life had in store.

Besides spending time with her family and friends, some of her favorite things in life were related to health and fitness, including cooking healthy meals for those close to her, outdoor adventures, and walking/running/hiking with Piper.

Her love for the people around her, her ability to make so many people laugh until they cry, her long, tight hugs, big kisses, and her genuine desire to help people are only some of the many amazing characteristics that defined her. Erika's medical condition did not define her. Her family would have paid any ransom, donated any limb, paid any price in the world, but this disease would not let her go until she was gone. We take comfort in knowing that Erika is surrounded by light, free from the struggles that haunted her. We would have given anything for her to experience that freedom in this lifetime. Our grief in losing her is infinite. And now, so is she.

I think we can all agree, when you were in Erika's company, you wanted to stay. She had this amazing aura around her. When you close your eyes, you can still feel her around you. Her fearlessness and love will forever be remembered by her mother Su-Anne and her husband Justin, her two baby sisters Gabrielle and Caisie, brother-in-law Jay, Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Sharon, Auntie Stef and D'Uncle Tony, Uncle Chas and Caitlyn, and her cousins Celeste and Orion, who were more like siblings than they were cousins. Erika will also be forever remembered by her extended family and numerous friends.

Erika's "dog-baby" Piper was such an important part of her life story, she deserves a paragraph of her own. "Pipes" was Erika's pride and joy. Her cousins Aoki and Kenji have made her part of their pack, so it has been decided that Caisie and Jay will raise her up and give her the life in Colorado that Erika always wanted her to have.

Her legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of everyone. We invite close family and friends to share your stories of remembrance on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at the Midway Village Museum, 6799 Guilford Road, Rockford, IL from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, we suggest that you help us carry on Erika's kindness and compassion by considering making a donation to help the family return to Colorado this summer. We will plan to lay her to rest in the mountains that she loved, near her birthday in July. You can contribute to the family's GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/ErikaLee .

To close, we wanted to share one of Erika's favorite quotes: "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." Vivian Green