Dr. Donald Eckhoff, M.D.

Donald George Eckhoff was born in 1949 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada to George Henry Eckhoff and Flo Harriet Lawrence. He passed away on August 21, 2022 surrounded by family in Denver, CO. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Lois Carlson Eckhoff and his two daughters, Krista and Heidi.

At age 5 his family moved from Canada to Minneapolis Minnesota. Don was the eldest of 3 children. His sisters Janet and Diane and Sister-in-Law Kathy still live in Minnesota enjoying the water Don missed living in Colorado. He moved to Colorado in the late 70s for his orthopedic residency where he met his wife Lois, a nurse from Chicago. They bonded over skiing and decided to make Colorado their forever-home where they raised their two children.

Don was an orthopedic surgeon with a passion for research. He had a very successful 30 year career at The University of Colorado Hospital. He recruited his daughters to help gather data for his research projects when they were young and patented a knee joint replacement design. He was loved as the neighborhood sports doc and had kids shuffled through the kitchen exam room to assess their most recent sports injuries.

Don was an avid skier, swimmer and casual cyclist. His high school friends would come out several times a year from Minnesota and California to ski Colorado slopes. He put his girls on skis at age 3 and they still love the winters in the mountains. He was known as an early riser and was in the pool every day by 5am. Krista would join him when she was home. Don and Lois rode bikes to explore every state on their travels.

As a father, Don was lucky enough to be a part of both daughter’s weddings. Krista married Taylor Beseda in 2015 and Heidi married Alex Adatto in 2017. He was there to hood Krista at her graduation from dental school and see her through buying her own practice. Heidi gave him his first and only grandchild, Andrew. Together they enjoyed walks through City Park in his red “chariot” to visit the geese. Andrew retains Don’s strong sense of adventure.

His family loved traveling the world with him as he participated in international medical conferences as both speaker and attendee. They traveled all over Europe, Australia, the US, South America, and China. His last trip to the Galapagos with friends was canceled by COVID, but he had the trip of a lifetime to Portugal in 2018 with his wife, daughters, and their spouses, enjoying Port wine and family time.

His family will continue to enjoy the sanctuary he built at his Denver home where he managed to create a year round backyard haven. His excitement around water features makes the yard sound like a babbling brook in a forest and is the most heavenly place to enjoy cocktails and conversation or read a book with a cup of coffee. We know this is where we will feel his spirit forever.

Please share memories of Don and condolences with his family by signing the Tribute Wall above.