Piper Rose Mortensen

Piper Rose Mortensen, age 2, entered heaven on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at Children’s Hospital. Piper was born on March 2, 2016 to parents Derek and Teresa Mortensen. Piper’s life was marked by vibrancy and resilience and sparkle. From birth, she overcame enormous medical issues connected with Spina Bifida, and she amazed her family and doctors with her sweetness and laughter. Piper proved that life should never be defined by one’s ‘medical condition’. She greeted each day as a new adventure by waking with a smile. Her outlook was always positive, even when she was in pain. She was determined to do everything saying, “Gotta move! Gotta move!”. Her determination was not fueled by frustration, but by the desire to enjoy this next new thing that life had offered her. To her, nothing was impossible, and she did it all with her contagious belly-laugh. Piper joyfully shared everything—from cookies to sun glasses to toys---even with her dogs. Piper taught us so much about how to live in the moment and because of this, she will be dearly missed. Piper is survived by her parents, Derek and Teresa (Martini) Mortensen, and her best friend and sister, Kailyn; her beloved “woof-woofs”, Maverick and Sobak; her maternal great-grandmother, Phyllis (Laska) Milanowski; her paternal great-grandparents, Art and Jeannie Strasser; her paternal grandparents, Roger and Sandy (Strasser) Mortensen; her maternal grandmother, Debra Martini (Milanowski); her aunts and uncles, Ted and Heather (Mortensen) Boylan; Tim and Jennifer (Martini) Meinhardt; Caleb and Danielle (Martini) Schmidt; Glen Martini; and her cousins, Jimmy, Caleb, Megan, Brooke, Stella, and soon-to-arrive baby Schmidt. She was met in heaven by her maternal grandfather, Gilbert H. Martini, Jr., and other loved ones. Special thanks to Dr. Foy and Piper's Spina Bifida team at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, please help Piper’s friends by making donations to the Sprint for Spina Bifida in Piper’s name at https://runsignup.com/piper. In August, we invite you to become part of “Piper’s Posse” and walk with us in the Sprint for SB. You can register and donate for this event at https://runsignup.com/piper Derek and Teresa greatly desire for you to share your memories of Piper with them. You can leave a tribute to Piper at http://www.pagenkopf.com/obituaries/Piper-Mortensen/ A celebration of Piper's life will be held on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 with a visitation starting at 10AM until service time at 12:00 PM Noon all to take place at Pagenkopf Funeral Home. Burial will follow at LaBelle Cemetery.