Obituary: Webster Stephan Heyliger

March 14, 1996 – January 28, 2025

It is with a saddened heart to announce that Webster Stephen Heyliger passed away unexpectedly early in the morning of January 28.
Web was born at 5:55 am on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1996 in the city of Glenwood Springs. His twin sister Kaylee followed 20 minutes behind him. The doctors quickly determined that there was an issue with his lungs, so Web and his father took a Flight-for-Life to Denver on that very same day. The outcome was that Web was simply born with one lung, and they questioned his survival. But Web was too full of life! His birth defect put him in the hospital with pneumonia multiple times when he was very young. It also took him about 3 years to begin eating solid foods. And he developed scoliosis due to a missing lung. But – it never slowed him down. His light blonde hair at birth reminded us of his older brother Ben’s blonde computer game character named “Magic Boy” – and that became his nickname that stuck with him his entire life.
It was immediately apparent that he was a born performer, entertainer, actor, and dancer. During his youth he honed these skills to perfection. He was the star feature at his dance studio, took vocal lessons, and performed often with loving acceptance by all audiences – and boy could he belt out a tune like he had two lungs instead of one!
Being home-schooled for most of his life, he made the decision to try out 10th grade at “a real high school”. During his 8-week experiment (he only lasted that long), he managed to obtain the lead role as The Lion in the musical play “The Wiz”. He was also crowned “Husky of the Month” (the school’s mascot) – a monthly honor given to a student selected by the school staff.
At age 19, he set out on his own to “Tinsel Town” to try to become a part of Hollywood. He managed to obtain “extra” positions on TV shows like “The Goldburg’s” and “The Middle” among others. One of his favorite stints was being the body double for the young actor Atticus Shaffer on “The Middle” – sitting next to (TV mom) Patricia Heaton in a car, simulating a small crash scene. Upon each take of the scene, Heaton would coo over Web and ask “Are you ok?” He was having a blast! But after a year of swinging the bat, he decided to return to Glenwood.
Once back home, he became an integral part of the local restaurant and theater scene, and ended up befriending an enormous amount of valley residents. As for theater, he participated in fun performances with the Aspen Community Theater. Some of his larger parts were playing LeFou in the “Beauty and the Beast” production, and Leaf Coneybear in the play “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”. And on the restaurant side, he became owner of The Italian Underground with his brother Ben, and winning “Best Italian Restaurant” in the Local’s Choice Awards.
Web was also a world traveler, donating his hard-earned money to the Smile Train organization and traveling half way around the world to places like India and Africa.
Web was always upbeat, always himself, openly gay, catching up on gossip, starting gossip, following the Entertainment world, living with chronic back and neck pain, reading biographies, traveling the world, and loved by all. He had an uncanny way of instantly making friends with everyone he met. As an example, he barely put in two weeks as a sales assistant at Gucci up in Aspen before his death, but had the entire staff accepting him and loving him as if he had worked there for years.
Web truly was… a “Magic Boy”
A Celebration of Life will occur at the Aspen High School Black Box Theater on Saturday March 29 at 1pm. Please wear colorful clothing to show your pride at the event. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please donate to the Smile Train organization.