Lauren "Ashley" Moore

Lauren “Ashley” Moore was born on December 28, 1984 in Boulder, CO. From infancy to adulthood she had a gorgeous smile, an infectious laugh, a twinkle in her eye, and a beautiful soul. As a child, she was often content to read, color, or play with her dolls. But, she also loved to get into mischief with her little sister, Elise (who she lovingly referred to as her “brother”), building closet forts, sliding down stairs in sleeping bags, and even devising a pulley system to lower the family cat from the balcony to the main floor in a basket. She loved ballet, summer swim team, competitive cheerleading, exploring in the open space near her home, and family camping trips.

Ashley graduated with Honors from Highlands Ranch High School, Class of 2003. She was a member of the honor society, JV cheerleading squad, Concert Choir, and an all-female acapella group. She studied Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she was also very active in student government, serving two one-year terms as legislative council president. Most recently, Ashley was pursuing a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine degree at Life University in Atlanta, GA.

Ashley enjoyed reading, photography, painting, drawing, dancing, being a formidable poker opponent, playing with her kitties (Leola and Daphne), walking her dog (Cosimo), hiking, and camping. She was also an advocate for the environment and social causes. Spending time with her fiancé, Joe, and her family was the most important thing in her life, however. True to her Italian heritage, she cherished time spent in the kitchen cooking with friends and family followed by savoring a great meal (or even the rare bad one) and hours of post-dinner conversation, story-telling, laughing, and occasionally even a little crazy dancing.

Taken from us too soon, Ashley leaves behind her fiancé, Joseph Hardin, her parents Michael and Lauri Moore, her sister, Elise Halbach (Nicholas), nephew Caden Moore, grandparents Bruno and Pamela Elari, grandmother Claire Kirven, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and loving friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Water for People (www.waterforpeople.org) or Heifer International (www.heifer.org), both charities Ashley supported, would be greatly appreciated.

“She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful for the way she thought. She was beautiful for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn’t beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful.”

- (attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald)