Heidi Jan Fernandez (Molenaar)
June 19, 1957 - Dec. 13, 2023
Heidi died peacefully at her home in Camp Sherman on December 13th at the age of 66, surrounded by her five children, her loving husband, and two cats.
Heidi was born in Redwing, Minnesota, in 1957 to parents Mary Gale and Dr. Robert Molenaar. A childhood in the rural Minnesota farm country of Cannon Falls influenced her love of animals and nature early on. At 5 years old she loved climbing onto the backs of her friend’s dairy cows and riding them around the barnyard. On her 10th birthday, her beloved black and white pony “Tony” arrived. Where other children would ride bikes, Heidi rode Tony–to friends’ houses, to the ice cream shop, and even across the local golf course (she said it was a great place to gallop). She shared a love of horses with her mom, who accompanied her every summer weekend to compete in horse shows. Heidi collected numerous ribbons and trophies, and at 15 was crowned Saddle Club Queen.
It was horses that eventually brought Heidi to Sisters in 1977 at age 20, to work with the Arabian horses on the Patterson Ranch. She later said that seeing the beautiful mountain country for the first time was love at first sight, and she never looked back. She was artistic and a gifted writer,
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