Less than three months after Oliver Henrikson died, his daughter Heidi Hunter passed away. Hunter, who was 61, died at home in her sleep on Sept. 29. Her husband Bill attributes her death to diabetes and the fact that she was hit hard by her father’s passing, although he is still awaiting the results of an autopsy.
“She was not in good health,” said Bill, who owned Bacchi’s Inn in Lake Forest with his wife for 35 years. “She was pretty depressed after her father died, and being a diabetic was hard on her system. She was not eating correctly after her father died.”
Heidi was a fixture at Bacchi’s, where she was a jack-of-all-trades — she would tend bar, seat guests, bus tables, “whatever was needed at the time,” Bill said.
Her daughter Carolyn said regular customers have begun noticing her absence.
“People come in, a lot of the old-timers, and they already miss her presence,” she said.
Heidi was passionate about poetry, and often went by the name H.H. Hunter as her nom de plume. According to Bill, she was published in six poetry books.
“Anytime someone had someone die, she wrote them a poem,” Carolyn said. “It was her way of supporting them during their grief.”
When her father died in July, Heidi penned the poem “Ode to Oliver,” which included stanzas such as, “Oliver was an engineer, he made things to last. He didn’t want anything he built, that couldn’t stand fast. He was a man before his time. He had foresight, that shouldn’t be a crime.”
Heidi became very close with her father in his later years, and was a firm believer in his libertarian ways, which often put him at odds with the community and Placer County over his commercial building in downtown Tahoe City. Henrikson battled with the county for decades over the O.M. Henrikson Poplar Trees Mall, widely regarded as an eyesore by many residents. Henrikson added a second floor and pool without proper permits, and refused to redevelop his property, which was built in the 1950s.
“My mom was very proud of everything he [Henrikson] accomplished,” said Carolyn. “The building was very important to him, so it was important to her.”
After her father’s death, Heidi believed that she would inherit the property. She told Moonshine Ink that if she became the owner, she would keep the building largely as is.
“No one gives me pressure,” she said. “I’m just like my father.”
But according to Bill, Heidi’s mother Carolyn inherited all of Henrikson’s properties. While no one is certain of Carolyn Henrikson’s plans — the elder Carolyn declined to be interviewed for this story — granddaughter Carolyn Hunter surmised that she would probably sell it.
“I imagine if she got an offer on it she would take it,” she said.
According to family members interviewed for this story and the August story about Ollie Henrikson’s death, although Heidi was close with her father, in later years she was not on good terms with most of her family, which included three brothers and one sister (another sister died several years ago). Bill said that no family members called after Heidi died, and no memorial was held.
As for the fact that her mother died so soon after her grandfather, Carolyn Hunter speculated: “Sometimes when someone you love and spend a lot of time with passes away, the person can’t handle,” she said.
To read the August story about Oliver Henrikson and his legacy, click on the link below, “The Key to the City.”
