Tara Haller Obituary

Tara Anne Haller passed peacefully, surrounded by friends and family after a battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Tara was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Phil and Pat Haller. She grew up in Stillwater and attended Oklahoma State University where she earned a degree in mathematics.

Tara left Stillwater in the summer of 1991 to begin a life of adventure and teaching in Colorado. She taught in Granby, Colorado, at East Grand Middle School, then moved on to the University of Northern Colorado to pursue her Master's degree and teach at University High School. In 1995, Tara returned to the mountains to accept a teaching position at Durango High School. In Durango, she met and fell in love with RaNae Bakel. Together they shared 26 years of life, outdoor adventure, gardening and love. Tara retired from teaching in 2023.

Teaching was a life-long passion for Tara. During her time at Durango High School, she taught mathematics, computer science and even a little bit of French. She loved being in the classroom and won numerous local and statewide awards for her teaching. Soft-spoken yet humble, she valued seeing her students after graduation and reconnecting with them more than the awards she received.

Tara loved helping everyone---students, friends, colleagues, neighbors. Everyone who knew her described her as positive and selfless. She approached everything in life with optimism, believing the best in others and in her future. She also had a lifelong curiosity, which filled her days with wonder and learning. She had a gift for finding joy in the simple things that others overlooked. Tara's other passion was being outdoors: biking, hiking, backpacking, walking her dogs, gardening. She loved to share these experiences with friends and had many great adventures together. She was fierce. Fierce on attacking hills on her bicycle, fierce in fighting for RaNae's best care, and fierce in fighting her own cancer.

Tara is predeceased by her wife, RaNae Bakel; her father, Phil Haller; and her niece, Taylor Witcher. She is survived by step-daughters Kimberly Gibson and Dana Fabiano and four grandchildren that she adored; her mother, Patricia Chambers (Dub); sister, Lisa Witcher (Joey); brother, Todd Haller (Stephanie); uncle and aunt, Robert and Linda Everett; cousin Jill Tate (Jacob) and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her Celebration of Life is September 6 from 4-7pm at Chris Park Group Sites near Haviland Lake north of Durango, including remembrances, food, and a campfire in her honor.

Contributions in memoriam can be made to Durango Education Foundation ( [email protected] ) for a scholarship in Tara's name for a student pursuing studies in mathematics or computer science.