Heather Warrick, a longtime advocate who died last week, is being memorialized with a celebration of life at Hyatt Regency Valencia on Sunday, Feb. 10.

The memorial will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Photo by Gary Choppe

Original story:

Heather Warrick, a longtime advocate for cancer-related nonprofits in the Santa Clarita Valley, died Friday of cancer. She was 43.

“Cancer did not define Heather, she lived life to the absolute fullest,” said Candy Spahr, a former SCV Woman of the Year who knew Heather well and worked with her on fundraisers for the American Cancer Society.

“She was always surrounded by loved ones — She was an angel that came down to earth,” she said.

An outpouring of kind words about Warrick spread quickly throughout Facebook, Twitter and social media sites, following the news of her passing Friday morning.

The Relay For Life of the Santa Clarita Valley’s Facebook page posted the following message:

“Today heaven gained a new angel as our Relay family lost a truly wonderful friend: Heather Warrick. Heather touched so many lives in so many ways. She inspired thousands to take up the cause to find a cure to cancer. She was never afraid to share her cancer experience. She always had a smile for those she came in contact with and she never, ever gave up hope.”

Heather Warrick | Photo by Stephen K. Peeples

She is survived by her husband, Chad, mother, father, twin sister, a brother, three nieces and two nephews, and two pugs that she considered “her boys,” Spahr said.

“She was so inspirational, she was so strong, but she had this quiet strength. She just went through her life,” said Janice Murray, a friend of Warrick and host of the KHTS’ “Non-Profit Spotlight Show.”

“She just went through her day and if you saw her on the street you wouldn’t know that she was going through all that she was going through,” Murray said.

Diana Sevanian, a Santa Clarita resident who worked with Warrick as an ardent supporter of cancer-related causes, shared the following:

“Heather was hit with breast cancer at the tender age of 24 – right as she was entering a new relationship with a handsome guy named Chad Warrick. She was crazy about him, but worried he would leave her once that cancer diagnosis was announced. Instead, this smitten young man soon proposed. Theirs became a love story that experienced tremendous highs and lows, but always held together with true love and unshakable vows. Heather ferociously and graciously battled cancer for 19 years.

“During her near two-decade battle with metastatic cancer (including a bout of melanoma too), she touched countless lives with her infectious message of hope, belief in the mindset of “I can” rather than “I can’t,” and a radiant smile that re-routed other people’s despair into inspiration.”

KHTS AM-1220 station co-owner Jeri Seratti-Goldman added a similar sentiment.

“It’s a tragedy to have lost such a treasure to our community,” Seratti-Goldman said. “We are truly saddened by her passing, and our condolences go out to her incredible family who stood by her side while she fought her battle with cancer for many years.”