Jennifer Lea DeSalvo Cortner

Jennifer Lea DeSalvo Cortner (May 25, 1945 - April 1, 2018) mother, grandmother, poet, activist and educator. She helped bring health care clinics to rural Colorado, was instrumental in passing legislation for handicapped accessibility, and she was the first Whistleblower in the state of Colorado. As an English teacher, she empowered hundreds of students to find their voice. She did all of this in crutches and a wheelchair, having been paralyzed in a toboggan accident at eighteen. She adhered to a fearless standard of honesty and justice and set an extraordinary example of what it means to be powerful in the world. She is preceded in death by her mother, Angeline Hensal DeSalvo and survived by her children, Angela Engel and Stosh Cortner; sister, Cynthia Renier, granddaughters, Grace and Sophie Engel, in addition to numerous cousins, and a niece and nephew that she adored. Memorial Mass 10:00 a.m., Friday, April 6, 2018 at Shrine of St. Therese.