Family, friends of former Colorado State Sen. Faith Winter honor legacy of love, advocacy for women in leadership
Friends, family and many others gathered to remember the life and legacy of state Sen. Faith Winter on Friday outside the Colorado State Capitol. A funeral service was held on the Capitol steps for a fierce advocate for women in leadership who dedicated her life to service.
Winter, who represented Broomfield, died in a multi-vehicle crash on Nov. 26, which remains under investigation. She was the mother of two children, Tobin and Sienna, and engaged to a man who also has two children. In the wake of her death, friends and colleagues on Friday shared stories of how she touched their lives. In addition to helping women become policymakers and legislators, Winter built a legacy of championing environmental causes.
Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags to be flown at half staff on Friday and Saturday to honor the former senator. He worked with Winter for close to 20 years, from before her time in office, and shared the extensive impact she had on her state and the country.
"As a public servant, she cared so deeply for the Colorado we love, so deeply for Colorado's most vulnerable. She was kind and also tough in fighting for her people, her district, and our state," shared Polis. "Faith will always be remembered as a champion of Colorado families, of elevating women into positions of power, and for our climate, our environment, our way of life. She was instrumental in passing and implementing so many great initiatives that benefit Coloradans today: paid family leave, landmark transportation and transit progress, connecting transit and housing affordability, and, of course, her other professional work to lift up hundreds of women not just here in Colorado but nationally into public office across these United States."
Polis also presented a proclamation honoring Winter and flags that have flown over the state Capitol to her children. Colorado Senate President James Coleman and Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Julie McCluskie also presented flags to Winter's father, Michael Winter, and her sister, Dawn Stevens.
Winter's friends and family shared stories highlighting the joy and laughter she brought to others, from getting into mischief with her sister Dawn to making her high school friends laugh uncontrollably. Her friend of 31 years, Jess Walker, said that Winter reaching across the aisle in high school to offer her a stick of gum didn't just spark a lifelong friendship between the two of them; it was indicative of who she was as a person, reaching out to others with kindness and friendship.
"Faith was magnetic. She was bringing people together and organizing well before she ever did it professionally. She managed to organize and amass enough votes to get our friends elected to every dance royalty court from Junior to Senior year. She was our prom princess. Faith always wanted me to tell that story at one of her events, I just didn't think it'd be this one," shared Walker. "The belief that she could make a difference and impact change has always been a part of who she is. She saw potential in everyone and everything, even me. She was fearless, kind, and genuine. She was one of one."
Winter's daughter, Sienna Snook, said her mother was full of love and touched the lives of all those around her.
"People say grief is love with nowhere to go. I believe that statement resonates deeply with who my mom was. My mom put so much love out into the world, which is why we feel her absence so strongly. She didn't need a reason to fight for others; she did it because she knew that her voice was made for helping those who didn't have one," Sienna said. "All of you with us today are here because my mom has made an impact on you and your life. She didn't believe in hate, only love. She would tell me that hate was just the absence of love, so the solution to hate is putting kindness out into the world, and she lived by that. Even when it would have been easier to hate, her love stretched far and wide."
Founding Director of Paid Leave for All, Dawn Huckelbridge, said Winter didn't just work to make the world a better place; she encouraged those around her to be better people. She said Winter had a way of inviting people in and including them in her life, often bringing along family, friends, and her dogs, and that she was dedicated to her work, pushing some 240 bills into law during her career.
"She may not have been the tallest among us, but her passion was never small, and God knows she always found a way to make a spark," Huckelbridge said fondly. "Her impact on her state and this country and every one of us was immeasurable. It's a legacy that will grow over so many generations, and her family, and those of us carrying on her work, in Colorado residents whose rent will not be raised, in every mother who can stay in the NICU now with her newborn baby, every person who holds onto their job after an injury or diagnosis, every son and daughter who can be with their parents as they pass. She never gave up and, if we ever manage to pass paid leave in this country, I will be thinking of her when we do, and I will miss my friend."