AURORA | Services are set for Tuesday, July 12, for former Sentinel reporter Sally Hekkers, who died last week.
Hekkers, 71, died June 30 at Swedish Medical Center from complications involving pneumonia and COPD. Hekkers and her husband, Jim, had moved back to the Denver area last year after having previously lived in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Monterey, Calif.
Services are set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 12, at Good Shepard Episcopal Church, 8545 E. Dry Creek Road, Centennial.
Hekkers was born Sally Jo Webster in Great Bend, Kan., and grew up in Hays, Kan. Shortly after high school she married Bill Walters, and they had two children: Michael and Tonya. Sally and Bill divorced in 1968, after which she moved to Denver and began studying at the University of Colorado at Denver.
As a student at CU-Denver, Sally worked as editor of the student newspaper. After receiving a bachelor degree in English, she was hired as a reporter for the Sentinel Newspapers. Beyond the Sentinel, Sally also worked at the Denver Public Library and worked as a correspondent for the Denver Post.
In 1976, Sally met and married Jim Hekkers, and they had two children: Jennifer and Brett. The Hekkers moved to Chattanooga in 1989, where Sally worked for the Chamber of Commerce. After a stint in Monterey for Jim’s work in the aquarium business, they moved back to Denver in 1997 before again moving to Monterey in 2001.
Outside of work, Sally served as co-president of the American Association of University of Women and volunteered with the Hospice of the Monterey Peninsula.
Sally is survived by her husband, Jim; her daughters, Tonya (Chris) Hardman and Jennifer (Scott) Hekkers Taylor; her sons, Michael Walters and Brett (Kihra) Hekkers; a sister, Jeanne Rott; and five grandchildren, Austin, Avery, Finn, Elsa and Amelie.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Monterey Branch of AAUW Local Scholarship fund. Checks may be made out to ‘AAUW MPB Local Scholarships’ with ‘Sally Hekkers Memorial’ in the memo field. Checks may be mailed to AAUW MPB, P.O. Box 1786, Monterey, CA 93942.