With much sadness, Dakota Rose Stafslien unexpectedly passed away at the young age of 28 in the early hours of May 4, 2024. She was born March 19, 1996 in Garberville, but grew up in Shelter Cove. Dakota attended Whale Gulch School, Redway Elementary and South Fork High School.

Dakota had many passions. She was certified in massage and over the past year she attended many classes at College of the Redwoods, including Fire Academy, which she had just graduated and was getting ready to start a career in with friends she made along the way. Dakota recently took a trip sailing to the Bahamas with friends she met online and told us all about the pigs that live on the beaches there. It was a great adventure !

Dakota loved art! All art! She always kept herself busy with a range of hobbies that included art (of course), music, beading, sewing, kayaking, road trips and learning all she could from making kombucha to documentaries that she would put online. Dakota’s ray of sunshine will be sorely missed by everyone who loved her, including her best friend Weston Cole Field who was always there for her. They shared many adventures together, and Arianna Guillette, whom she grew up with, was always by her side.

She is survived by her mother, Sandra Brown (Ferndale); father, Samuel Stafslien (Shelter Cove); sister Jasmine (Torrey) Hass and their three children, Olivia, Oliver and Felix Hass (Garberville); and half-sister Sammy Stafslien (Whitethorn); grandfather Bruce Winter (Mountain View, Arkansas ); and second grandmother Kathy Brown (Fort Bragg).

Dakota is preceded in death on her mother’s side by her second father, Wade Brown (Miranda); and grandmother Kathy Winter (Mountain View, Arkansas); and second grandfather Whitey Brown (Fort Bragg). On her father’s side both grandparents Tim and Barbara Stafslien ( Southern Humboldt area).

I would also like to thank everyone who lent Dakota a helping hand over the years whenever she needed it.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Dakota Rose Stafslien’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.