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Lori Fournier remembers sister Kimberly

Lori: Kimberly was a free spirit with amazing energy

Jack Weinstein
Kimberly Fournier, right, is pictured in this undated photo with her sister Lori Fournier, left, and Lori’s daughter, Sydney.
Courtesy Photo





Kimberly Fournier, right, is pictured in this undated photo with her sister Lori Fournier, left, and Lori’s daughter, Sydney.

— Kimberly Fournier recently had adopted an abandoned Austrian shepherd that her sister Lori said was in “pretty bad shape.”

Lori Fournier said the dog Kimberly named Sammie was beat up, malnourished, shy and abandoned. Her sister had to carry the dog outside to use the bathroom.

“What Kimmie went through, I can remember, it was endless,” Lori said. “She didn’t care. She was taking care of him. She wasn’t going to take him to a shelter to be put down. She wasn’t going to give him away to anyone. She was going to take care of him if it was the last thing she did. She was amazing that way.”



Kimberly Fournier, 41, was killed in a rollover wreck Satur­day evening north of Hayden.

Lori described her sister as a free spirit with amazing energy, who was vibrant, personable and loved life.



She loved animals — Kimberly had two dogs and four cats, Lori said. Kimberly also loved the beach. Lori said her sister had planned to move back to Navarre Beach, Fla., where she had lived for 16 or 17 years before moving to Hayden in the fall.

Kimberly wanted to help clean up the Florida beaches after the April 20 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

After moving to Hayden, Kimberly worked at the HiWay Bar, which Lori leases and operates. Lori said their relationship grew stronger, as did Kimberly’s relationship with Lori’s daughter, 17-year-old Sydney.

“Our relationship was the No. 1 thing in her life, without a doubt,” Lori said.

Kimberly was the second of four children. She has two younger brothers, who live in Boston and Sacramento, Calif. Lori said her sister was divorced and didn’t have children. Kimberly’s pets were her children, Lori said.

Lori said she thought Kimber­ly was on her way to California Park, one of her favorite places to hike with her dogs, when she died.

Trooper Rick Kaspar, a member of the Colorado State Patrol’s accident reconstruction team, said Kimberly Fournier was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer east on Routt County Road 80. He said the Blazer went off the right side of the road in a curve and rotated clockwise before rolling 1 1/2 times, ejecting Fournier and pinning her beneath it. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kaspar said West Routt Fire Protection District emergency responders arrived shortly after the call went out before 6 p.m. He said the Hayden Police Department and Routt County Sheriff’s Office were the first to respond.

His investigation indicates that Fournier was speeding. Kaspar said C.R. 80, a rutted gravel road with washboard sections, and weather weren’t a factor.

“She was traveling 10 mph over speed limit,” Kaspar said. “The speed limit for that section of road is 30 mph. Our investigation shows she was doing more than 40 mph around that curve when she lost control.”

He said Fournier wasn’t wearing her seat belt. Kaspar said full and empty beer bottles and drug paraphernalia were found in and outside the SUV.

Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg said the autopsy, which was conducted by a pathologist who works out of the Grand County Coroner’s Office in Kremmling, is complete, pending toxicology results. Ryg said he hopes to have those results this week.

Lori Fournier said a private memorial service for Kimberly is planned to take place in Connecticut, where they grew up. A memorial service will occur in Hayden after Lori returns from Connecticut, she said.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up in Kimberly Fournier’s name at Mountain Valley Bank in Hayden.

Lori said she wanted to use the fund to create a scholarship for a Hayden High School senior who plans to pursue a college degree in animal sciences. She said the fund also would be used to provide donations to local animal shelters and the shelter in Navarre.


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