Heather Beyer, a Cal State Long Beach alumna and a former member of the Angels’ Strike Force spirit squad, died last Saturday at the age of 27.
Beyer was surrounded by family and friends in her Aliso Viejo home when she lost her year-long battle to breast cancer April 30.
Beyer was born Heather Faith Hoefnagels Jan. 27, 1984, in Garden Grove, and spent most of her youth in Orange County. She attended Serrano Intermediate School in Lake Forest, where she became involved in the drill team.
Beyer was known as an avid sports fan who made a job out of sharing her optimism and high energy with everyone she came in contact with. After graduation from Woodbridge High, Beyer continued to cheer competitively with the Magic All-Stars in 2002.
Beyer balanced coaching at Newport Harbor High and attending both Saddleback College and CSULB in order to earn her degree in journalism.
And at the end of her academic career, Beyer was made a member of the Anaheim Angels’ Spirit Squad, Strike Force. For a lifelong baseball fan, this opportunity was truly a dream come true.
She became engaged to OC Sherriff’s Department Deputy Nate Beyer at Disneyland, and they married in July 2009.
In October of 2009, Beyer discovered a lump in her breast that was dismissed by doctors as fibrocystic breast condition – not cancer.
In February of the following year, the pain became too severe to ignore and Beyer went back for answers.
It was then that doctors discovered that the golf-ball sized tumor was indeed cancerous and that at this point, it had already spread to several parts of her body.
Beyer took it upon herself to notify Tesoro High School, where she was coaching, and told her athletes she would be leaving her position in order to begin chemotherapy.
What she didn’t tell her close-knit team was that the cancer, at this point, had already spread to her lungs and lymph nodes. Beyer neglected to mention that survival was unlikely.
Her team of high school girls rallied in support during a Relay for Life fundraiser last May. The entire squad wore pink bows and pinned the words “Heather’s Girls” to their jerseys as they walked to raise cancer awareness and hope for their coach.
During April of this year, Beyer was placed in hospice care at her home in Aliso Viejo, California.
Cal State Long Beach student Elise Severson remembers her time with Beyer before she was diagnosed with cancer. The two had first met through membership in their sorority, Alpha Phi.
One of her fondest memories with Beyer was the day they spent together at Disneyland.
“We really connected,” she said, “laughing, being silly and just loving life.”
However, Severson’s all-time favorite memory with Beyer was last year at her Relay for Life fundraiser.
Severson remembers making T-shirts that said “Hope for Heather” and hearing Beyer jokingly demand, “I better get one!”
Severson wishes she had more time to grow their friendship. w
When asked what ultimately drew her to Beyer, she said it was the “immense amount of confidence and conviction” with which she spoke.
“Every word was genuine,” Severson said.
Friends said it was the grace of God that saw Beyer— whose middle name was Faith — through her tireless battle with cancer.
Beyer is survived by her husband, her parents and nine brothers and sisters.
Friends have been raising funds for the American Cancer Society in Beyer’s honor. To donate, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?team_id=875796&fr_id=31474&pg=team.