The tragic loss of an Arvada veterinarian has struck a blow among residents of both the suburban and foothills communities. Conifer resident Shelley Maree Ekstrom, 60, died in an ATV crash Oct. 1 near the Park and Teller county lines, according to the Park County Sheriff’s Office.
Ekstrom was beloved not only by her clients at Arvada’s Indian Tree Animal Hospital but friends and neighbors in Conifer, who describe her as caring, positive, adventurous and creative.
“Working with her at the veterinary hospital, I aspired to be like her,” said Kaitlin Davis, who was also Ekstrom’s neighbor. “She was never short of advice or positivity, and was one of the most caring, patient people I ever met.”
Ekstrom was a customer when Conifer’s James Adams first met her, but the two quickly became friends, he said. Adams owns Gruntworks Mountain Services and did several projects at Ekstrom’s home.
“She was always a happy, smiling personality, and she had her own artistic twist and vision about things,” said Adams, who attended Ekstrom’s Oct. 6 services at Evergreen Lutheran Church. “There wasn’t a selfish bone in her body.
“She didn’t have to, but she introduced me to all her neighbors, and because of her generosity and kindness, I got a lot of business,” he continued. “She also integrated me into her group of friends.”
Adams, who remembers Ekstrom had a Harley and a “beautiful purple Cadillac,” also excavated a space for her ATV.
“She was very energetic and enthusiastic, and always ready for the next adventure,” he said.
Those adventures were wide-ranging, including the quiet peace of hiking, the thrill of ATV riding and motorcycle racing, and the creativity of casting bronze sculptures.
Ekstrom was born in Spirit Lake, Iowa and had a lifelong love of animals and art, riding her quarter house and drawing and painting as a child. She earned her degree in veterinary medicine from Ross University in 2002 and began working in Texas as an equine veterinarian. She switched to working with small animals and moved to Colorado.
She kept a gratitude journal, and excerpts from it were shared during her service.
“I am so blessed to live in this time and place,” she wrote in entries dated in July and August 2024. “This is truly the most beautiful place in the world. I feel love for all … family, friends, dogs.”
According to the nonprofit Justice Takes Flight, which helps people find missing loved ones, Ekstrom and a male neighbor left their Conifer homes Oct. 1 to ride ATVs in Pike National Forest. The neighbor returned to the area injured and received medical treatment, but Ekstrom did not return, triggering a search.
Adams said the two were riding separate ATVs, and the man sustained “a pretty bad head injury.”
Park County officials said Ekstrom died Oct. 1. The county and multiple other agencies received a missing person report and began the search for Ekstrom “in extremely rough terrain” on Oct. 2, recovering her body early on Oct. 3.