Harlen O York

Harlen came into this world the same way he left it; hard and in his own way. He was born on October 30th, 1998 in Billings, MT after my mother attempted to have him at our home in Roundup. The midwife lost his heartbeat and away they went! He was born a healthy, beautiful baby boy. The first part of our childhood was spent on 20 acres in the foothills of the Bull Mountains, learning to ride bikes, play basketball, and climb the ponderosa pines that, at the time, we thought stretched to the sky. He was fearless. He wasn’t afraid to take risks and try new things, always so confident that boy was. We moved to Missoula for his 4th-7th grade years while our mom attended pharmacy school, which looking back on things, was both a blessing and a curse. We had the time of our lives, but at the expense of what would later cost him his life. We played sports, went skiing, fishing, and rafting with our father, and experimented with the less than legal recreational activities at too young an age. We moved to Moscow, ID in 2012 after my mom graduated from pharmacy school and moved us to the one state we didn’t want to go to haha. Moving from Missoula to Moscow was initially, kind of lame. Going from the Montana mountains to the rolling hills of the Palouse was underwhelming to an almost 14 and 16 year old. Luckily, we both made friends before even starting our 8th grade and sophomore years. These friends were often friends for life, even if we fell out of touch over the years. Moscow is where Harlen spent most of his life. This is where he became a young man, learning to navigate the absolute chaos and beauty of this wild, fleeting life. Since his passing, we’ve been showered with seemingly endless stories of Harlen’s tenacity. How he was there for people whenever and wherever they needed him. How he showed up and was the one person who wasn’t afraid to tell it like it was. He gave as good as he got, and in the end, that’s what took him. Harlen struggled with the throws of addiction for the last ~9 years of his life. We both got in legal trouble, for separate incidents, in 2013. It has been a constant battle with the law, mental health, and addiction facilities ever since. As too many of us know, these laws and facilities are not designed to rehabilitate or help the folks that find themselves in their grip. More than anything, we want his death to mean something. After all, a society is only ever as strong as its weakest members. Check on your loved ones. Advocate for political and socioeconomic changes that actually support and embody the well being of humanity. People are suffering, and we should do everything we can to ensure other families don’t have to navigate the loss of a loved one to addiction. Let’s work to create a world where people don’t feel the need to turn to drugs and alcohol to ease their suffering. Let us remember how precious and fleeting this life is. Rest in Paradise, Harlen. We love you.

If you wish to make a donation to the Latah Recovery Center in his memory, to help support others in similar situations, you can do so here.   https://latahrecoverycenter.org/contact-and-support-us/

We’ll be holding a Celebration of Life & Love on Friday, February 14th, 2025. We’ll share more details as we figure them out. Thank you all for your continued love and support during this impossible time, we appreciate and love all of you so, so much.