Eileen Deborah Sheahan’s “Radiant smile and even bigger heart” reached all corners of her close-knit family.
An Illinois woman, 22 years old, caught on fire during a skiing accident in Aspen this week has been identified as Eileen Deborah Sheahan granddaughter of former Cook County sheriff, by the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office.
At 12:03 p.m., she hit a tree on the Exhibition ski run, an intermediate trail above the Merry-Go-Round restaurant at Aspen Highlands Ski Resort. It was determined that she had died at the scene. She was transported by the coroner to Aspen Valley Hospital.
In a statement to the pitkin county coroner’s office, Chief Deputy Coroner Audra Keith confirmed Sheahan owned a helmet at one time in her possession, but is unsure whether she wore it at the time she crashed. The helmet was found near the tree she struck.
According to Keith, the autopsy results will be available approximately within four weeks, but blunt force trauma is the most likely cause.
It is reported that Sheahan was born in Evanston, Ill., on Nov. 17, 2001. She attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, where she graduated high school, and St. Joan of Arc in Evanston, where she attended grade school.
In May she was preparing to graduate with a degree in economics from the University of Michigan, and it was reported that she commented repeatedly on her privilege to have had the chance to attend each university and meet so many friends.
Aside from her mother Patricia O’Brien and father Terrence Sheahan, Erin, Margaret, and Michael Sheahan survive.
“We feel blessed to have had 22 beautiful years with our cherished daughter and comforted at this time to feel her presence and love all around us,” Ms. Sheahan’s parents added in a later statement.
The obituary of Eileen published on Legacy.com states, “She loved life and loved those fortunate enough to call her a friend. She had a sincere love of life, a sense of humor, and a compassion that will be missed by all who knew her.
Chicago’s Old Saint Patrick’s Church held a mass funeral on Monday.
