Ira Charles Liston

Ira Charles Liston died Wednesday, June 1, 2022 in Westminster, CO. After five years of struggling with severe mental illness and alcohol dependency, Ira collapsed and died in his hotel room. An autopsy has yet to determine the cause.

Ira was born on June 9, 1985, in Wausau, WI to Michele Seipp and Dan Liston.

Ira grew up in Boulder, graduating from Fairview High School in 2004. As a junior, he protested high school authoritarian policies by playfully campaigning for and successfully being elected “principal”. (The then-current principal refused to step aside.) Ira attended Macalester College, focusing on International Studies, History and Spanish, graduating magna cum laude in 2008. He attended USC Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor as well as the Office of Public Service Award in 2012. He served as a staff immigration attorney at the Public Law Center in Santa Ana, CA. There, for several years, he provided zealous and humane advocacy for his clients, many of whom had been victims of international sex trafficking.

His heroes in life were Bobby Kennedy and Scott Hutchison, lead singer of Frightened Rabbit. Inspired by Scott (and in the words of Bobby Kennedy) Ira believed “that each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against an injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope that joins other ripples to form a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” In life, Ira sought to follow Bobby Kennedy’s admonition to “tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”

Ira is survived by his parents and brother Matthew (Jessica Meyer).

We will miss Ira dearly. His wry sense of humor, love of cooking, pugnacious attitude, keen observant eye, critical mind, and empathetic soul were gifts to us all. We love you, Ira.

Honoring Ira’s passions, memorial donations can be made to support mental health at ira.gives/memorial or immigration advocacy at rmian.org .

A memorial service will be planned for a later date.

Heritage Funeral & Cremation Services of Lafayette is handling cremation arrangements.

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