Our amazing, strong, beautiful and courageous son, Torleif Lister Samuelsen, was born at home in April 1999. He was suddenly, tragically killed in July 2023. We are devastated, we are forever heartbroken. He was our only child.
In his 24 years Torleif accomplished so very much, and he lived his life with curiosity and a keen sense of ‘knowing’ that he had from a young age. He was compassionate, physically robust, and driven to pursue admirable goals. We loved to watch him grow.
A graduate of Seattle’s Garfield High School and Western Washington University, he was studious and worked hard in school without prompting from us in any way. One of his favorite subjects was astronomy. During high school he worked at an auto repair shop on East Cherry Street, learning how to wrench from Fetene Haffa. We admired Torleif, we adored him. He was unique.
Torleif loved our annual trek to the Oregon Country Fair and to camp everywhere from lava fields to remote coastal spots. He spent high school summers at sea, like the Viking he was. He fished aboard the F/V Karluk, F/V Zealot, F/V Crista G and the F/V Jade. From the back deck of the crab boat Crista G he saw the Space X’s fiery return to earth on an ink black night in March of 2021 as they were fishing north of the Columbia River. He would call us to share things like this, he communicated well and we were a close-knit family of 3.
He became an EMT (it was what he wanted for his birthday one year–to have his training funded to explore that interest), and worked for an ambulance company in Bellingham during college and later as a volunteer with the Whatcom Fire Department. A true outdoorsman, he pursued wildland firefighting first on an initial attack crew with the DNR in the Methow Valley and then, after college, he secured a job as a Plumas Hotshot in northern California. We are so proud of him–he was an amazing person to live with and learn from. He took us on the journey of our lives and we knew we were incredibly lucky to parent him. We cannot express how deep grief is. There are no words.
His love of motorcycling took hold early. When he was a toddler he would ride in our sidecar and travel all over. He became a skilled dirt bike rider and put many miles on street bikes.
In July of 2023 Torleif was headed to the California coast to camp by himself. He was traveling in his lane, heading west on highway 20 near Williams California . A man in an oncoming minivan, with his two children, wife and mother, was passing multiple cars at a high speed. He struck and killed Torleif there. Reading your child’s autopsy report is a difficult thing to do. He was very, very broken. It is the news no parent ever wants to hear, that their child was killed. It has changed our lives forever. Thankfully there were several people who all gave statements saying our son was lawfully riding and the minivan was recklessly risking the lives of others .He has never apologized to us and continues to lie and delay. The man has been charged by the State of California (Colusa county courthouse on June 11) and it is out of our hands but weighs heavily on our minds and in our hearts.
We give thanks to the Plumas Hotshots fighters who escorted us to the Colusa funeral home and have attended most of the eigh court hearings over the past almost two years. Thanks to the crew and Fire Chief J Gilbert of the Williams Fire Department for gathering his remains
Torleif is survived by his parents, Anastasia and Thomas Samuelsen and his beloved partner, Hattie Bakke.
I believe the minivan driver should be sent to prison and his driving privileges should be terminated
Father Thomas L. Samuelsen Seattle WA.