Donate in loving memory of Laura Blau

June 11, 2001 - July 25, 2023

If you're playing Guitar Hero, throwing pop-its or calculating shock waves from weapons of mass destruction, you must have known Laura in high school. If you can sing a mean Beatles karaoke song, Irish dance while you're drunk and understand microstructures of metal fatigue, you must have known Laura in college. If you knew Laura, then you'd know how she created laughter in the darkest moments, encouraged (and convinced) others to wear Victorian era nightgowns from Vermont and how she loved with all her heart.

Laura was a reluctant participant in this world. She did not even arrive on time. At two weeks overdue, Michelle and Eric Blau, along with big sister Sarah, welcomed her on June 11, 2001.

Her big sister, Sarah, tried to teach her the ropes, but Laura had to do it her way from the beginning. Whether needing to pull rocks out of her mouth or plastic beads out of her nose or stitches from biting the cat, Laura had no fear. Sarah was always there for her. Sarah ensured Mom did not "abandon" her in the woods of Maine (true story). There wasn't a stream Laura's feet didn't play in, a fashionable pair of sunglasses she didn't don or a furry animal she didn't squeeze.

Her first best friend was her big sister, Sarah, until she met her little sister, Kate. Laura cried at Kate's first baby bath and was worried that Kate would get brain damage if she fell while learning to walk. When these three sisters were together, they magnified each others' passions and quirks and supported each other in their pursuits of theater, science and art.

The girls' mystery trips with Mom were epic; full of gas station food, puzzles in order to get to the next destination, crawling on all fours in the middle of the night to get away from bats and camping in the most secret spots only the CIA could find.

Dad started her YouTuber career at the age of 6 with a sugar science experiment. She moved on to making claymation movie trailers and creating blackmail art of Kate holding a rubber chicken with lasers shooting from her eyes. Her achievements escalated to the point where she brought Dad, along with her robotics team, to a world championship.

Laura enjoyed exploring the mountains of Colorado hiking with Grandma and Grandpa Blau. She loved Grandma Blau's pretzel jello salad and Illuminati conspiracy theory discussions. She may not have learned Grandpa Blau's technique for perfect cheesy eggs but she sure picked up his knack for cheesy puns. Nothing would make Laura happier than a day with Grandma Begin picking and eating raspberries and working on 1000 piece puzzles in their granny nightgowns. There was never a woodworking or electronics project too big for Laura and Grandpa Begin to tackle, after she first promised to never sell his tools. Laura and Grandpa Begin were two peas in a pod, always up to something and always together. There is nothing he would not do for her.

Once she got her golden ticket away from home by graduating high school, she searched near and far for her tribe. After finding out she could learn how to legally blow things up, she became "a ramblin' wreck from Golden Tech, a helluva engineer," attending Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO, where she added to her continuous line of friends named Katie/Catie. At Mines, she translated her love for fire, rocks and metal into a degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering where she graduated Cum Laude.

Laura was blessed with many loving family members and friends. She is survived by her parents, Eric and Michelle Blau; sisters Sarah and Katherine Blau; grandparents, Maurice and Paule Begin; Jeffrey and Susan Blau; uncle, John Blau (Angela); aunt, Jaclyn Jester (Brooks); cousins, Eliana Blau, Noah Blau, Isaac Blau, Lily Jester and Molly Jester. Laura was preceded in death by her uncle, Daniel Begin.

She grew up with family cats, Alfred, Miss Kitty, Pickles and Sid, and family dog, Brandi. To this day, we are not sure whether Miss Kitty or Pickles won the spot in her heart as favorite.

We plan to give any donations in Laura's name to organizations that directly sparked her love for science and engineering:

Laura's FIRST Robotics Competition team Chairman's Award videos

2017 North Carolina State Champions - look for Laura at 2:15

2018 District Chairman's Award-winning video - Laura did the voiceover