Cornelia Wilbert Grondahl was born on April 18, 1948, in Mt. Kisco, New York, and died on March 25, 2026, in Boulder Colorado. The youngest of three sisters, she grew up in a family that recognized and nurtured her artistic eye from the very beginning. She studied Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, where she met her beloved husband, Christopher (Chris) Grondahl, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. She and Chris had two children in Seattle, where they lived for eight years, and then moved to Vermont, where Cornelia raised her children with Chris and built a body of artistic work shown in museums and galleries across the country, including a greeting card selected by the Museum of Modern Art for their Christmas collection from 1991-1994. In 2015, the couple moved to Boulder, Colorado, to be close to their family. Cornelia loved her family dearly and felt profoundly proud of them. There she hiked, photographed the mountains, attended climate rallies, hosted friends in a home filled with her art, went on long road trips with Chris to places like Crested Butte and Garden of the Gods, and lived — as she always had — with her senses wide open.
Cornelia had a quality that all who met her instantly felt — a rare and palpable warmth. She moved through the world with a capacity for beauty, feeling, and care that touched everyone around her. She saw wonder in flowers, in light on water, in the shadows of branches on a wall, in the poppies and irises on a garden tour that would stop her mid-step and leave her pointing her camera at them in awe. Just as keenly, she felt the suffering of the world and the impacts of human folly on nature, and responded with empathy, activism, and a lifelong passion for justice. During the last decade of her life, climate activism became a central focus.
Throughout her years, she kept journals, wrote letters, loved music and poetry and learning, and was, as she often said, endlessly fascinated by life. Forever, her immeasurable gifts, the depth of her spirit, and the sweetness of her being will live in the hearts and lives of those who loved her. She is survived by her husband, daughter, son, grandson, her children’s partners, her sister, her sister’s partner, her nieces and their children and grandchildren, her husband’s brother and his family, many close friends, and her sweet cat Lia.
Please consider making a donation to support 350 Colorado in memory of Cornelia:
A very excellent obituary!