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In memory of

Keana Werlen

Berkeley, CA, USA

April 29, 2001 - September 29, 2020

Apr 29, 2001 - Sep 29, 2020

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Keana Werlen, age 19, passed away unexpectedly but peacefully in her sleep on Sep. 29, 2020. She was a sophomore at UC Berkeley. Keana chased her passions with unbound energy, overcame serious health struggles and loved life, family, and friends deeply. Her theme song was "We are the Champions" by Queen. Her last email to her dad after she finished a midterm exam and before she went to sleep reassured him that her day was spent on a Queen day.
Keana was born in Basel, Switzerland on April 29, 2001. Her mom Estela, a Filipino-American, and her dad Guy, a Swiss, met in the same lab at UC San Diego. Estela and Guy moved to Basel to pursue their science careers and start a family. After honeymooning in Hawaii, they decided to name their baby Keana, which means "gentle, cool breeze" in Hawaiian. Keana spent the first three years of her life in Basel. She attended Maple Leaf Preschool where she learned how to speak Swiss German. She often hung out in the lab whenever her mom or dad were working late hours or weekends. So, her first toys were pipettes.
After her sister Alisha was born in 2004, Guy and Estela relocated to the US and lived in Hillsborough, a suburb that is 15 min away from Princeton, NJ and one hour away from NY city. She and her sister took care of eight guinea pigs, her favorite was Sandy, the cleverest of them all. As a young girl, she loved dancing in the living room and exploring backyard critters with her sister. She attended Kindercare in Piscataway, Woodfern Elem School, Auten Road Intermediate School, Hillsborough Middle School and Hillsborough High School. Her most memorable moments as a young student were playing with her beloved Euro-American friends whom she met at Kindercare, doing monkey bars at Woodfern during recess, playing Lucy (Charlie Brown) at ARIS and getting an academic gold medal at HMS. In high school, she was the president of Children's Hospital Care Club where she organized crafts and treats for pediatric oncology patients, won the Rutgers oncology olympiad, wrote a foraging forest cookbook for Sourland Conservancy, assisted at the oncology unit at Somerset hospital and enjoyed Biology class. At 4 yo, her mom signed her up for jazz, tap and ballet but she soon convinced her mom that she belonged instead in the gym. She tumbled through the recreational gymnastics program at Rutgers when she was 8 yo. Participating in Level 4 gymnastics meets sparked her competitive spirit. Like any young gymnast, her dream was to compete in the Olympics.
In the Fall of 2011, Keana (10 yo) had unexplainable exhaustion and was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia that Nov. Her leukemia was an aggressive form and required an equally aggressive chemotherapy for 8 months. It is hard to put into words what Keana physically endured during her treatments yet she remained ebullient. The nurses admired how Keana would put ice on her cheeks so she could numb the pain of cold sores and continue to nourish herself. During chemo treatments, she would make dance videos to Janet Jackson songs and make musicals for her favorite nurses. She discovered new passions during her hospital stays including cooking, rapping, painting, and poetry. Most of all, she dreamed of becoming a pediatric oncologist like her own oncologist Dr. D. They bonded over fart apps during her procedures. Although Keana never fulfilled her dream to compete at the Olympics, she was able to attend the 2012 Olympics in London to cheer on the USA gymnastics Fierce Five, thanks to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Keana also made great memories at the Hole-in-the-Wall summer camps, where she met new friends who went through similar health challenges as her. After her treatment, Keana was determined to follow her dreams and to just be a normal teenager. She went back to gymnastics as a Level 5 and even won the balance beam state title. Keana was a graceful gymnast and loved choreographing dances with her teammates. It was not a surprise that she made the leap from gymnastics to dance and performed in ballets such as The Nutcracker. She made many trips to NYC with either her dance buddy or her mom to watch ballet performances and experience the foodie culture in the city. She loved vegan food and was fascinated by Boba tea and whipped up new recipes as a barista at Grumpy Bobas. She also pursued her passion for organizing fund raisers for cancer research and up to her last days had served as mentor to young cancer patients.
It was her dream to go to college in California and was ecstatic when she was admitted as a Nutrition major at UC Berkeley. She received scholarships from the National Children’s Cancer Society and the Swiss Benevolent Society. In her freshman year, she got introduced to research in a Nutrition lab, joined a Food consulting group where she made great friends who shared her passion for community work. She continued to perform contemporary dances with a Cal dance group or simply did TikTok dances with her friends. In the summer of 2020, she had the time of her life exploring the Bay Area with her newly found friends from the co-op housing, where she got a taste of the Berkeley lifestyle. As a sophomore, she was thrilled to be chosen as a Resident Assistant, a role that allowed her to mentor new students and interact closely with her RA peers.
Having families in both Switzerland and California, Keana often vacationed in these places. In fact, her favorite books were Heidi and Grapes of Wrath, set in the Swiss Alps and California, respectively. Keana loved visiting her grandma (Mamama as Keana called her) and her many cats. She also admired her Tata Denise who is a doctor and her cousins Damian, Arnaud, and Nicolas. She looked forward to New Years’ fireworks organized by her “crazy” Tonton Alain who also took her to music festivals. Her favorite place in the whole universe is the Werlen chalet in St. Luc, in the Alpine region of Valais. There she spent times from childhood to adulthood hiking and skiing the meadows around the Toûno mountain, eating cheese fondue, practicing her French, and doing Just Dance videos with sister Alisha and cousins Laura and Matthias. Keana also often vacationed with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area where her mom’s family lived. She loved visiting the farmers markets with her Lolo, Lola and Tita Elena. She loved Tito Ed’s barbeque parties although she would rather teach her cousins Leland, Joel, Matthew, Andrew and Melody how to make veganized Filipino dishes.
In the summer of 2019, Keana fulfilled her dream of reaching the summit of the Toûno (9902 ft; 3018m), where her remains will be laid to rest.
Keana is also known to her family and friends as Kiki, Keanabanana, Kikiboomboom, Keeks, Kahmonkey. We will all miss her beautiful smile, her gentle voice, her easy “I love you” , her spontaneous dancing and cooking, her sharp wit and her caring and adventurous spirit.

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