Obituary: Insa Riepen

Insa Marika-Anna Riepen, beloved mother, friend, and tireless advocate for her Park City community, passed away November 8, 2026, at age 75. Petite in stature and formidable in determination, she showed how much one person—and a committed community—could accomplish. Born to Ella Renate (Flessenkämper) and Theodor Riepen, Insa grew up on Juist, one of Germany’s East Frisian islands in the North Sea. Her family operated an inn known as Haus Riepen, a name it still carries today. Insa began a banking apprenticeship as a teenager on Juist and in Leer, Germany. Her adventurous spirit took her to Israel, where she spent a few months working on a farm, before returning to Juist to run a bed-and-breakfast of her own. She moved to Michigan as an au pair through a YMCA program, then earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wayne State University. She later joined Thyssen Steel in Detroit, starting as a German-speaking accountant before advancing into sales.

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