Colette Nelson Guggenheim passed away peacefully on August 1, 2025, at her farm on Whidbey Island, surrounded by her family and friends. She was 53. Her passing leaves an irreplaceable void in the hearts of all who knew her, friends said.
Colette lived as she cooked – with generosity, creativity and an open heart. She wove together food, place and community into something greater than the sum of its parts, creating spaces where strangers became friends and friends became family. Her gift was making people feel special and seen.
She showered her loving spirit on her beloved wife, Hannah, and their son Miles, but also shared it with people whom she'd just met. She did this by remembering people's details and making them feel seen and heard. If Maya Angelou's words are true that "People will forget what you said and will forget what you did but will never forget how you made them feel,” then Colette will be remembered by thousands.
Born in Billings, Montana, on a snowy winter day, Colette was raised with Montana grit and a strong work ethic. Her parents are Doug and Rita Nelson. The family moved from Montana to Oregon in 1972, living in Eugene, Salem and Portland before settling in Pendleton. Here her many gifts bloomed – a (first) violinist, an athlete’s determination, and a leader’s confidence. She was a cheerleader, a diver, a gymnastics coach, a marathon runner, and even danced in the Pendleton Round-Up’s Happy Canyon’s Can-Can troupe. Her friends and teachers knew her as capable, talented and enthusiastic earning, her the Lantern Cup award, Pendleton High School’s highest honor.
Colette studied at the University of Washington, with a transformative year abroad at the University of Granada in Spain, where her passion for food and culture flourished. She spent several seasons salmon fishing in the Gulf of Alaska before working in kitchens across the Pacific Northwest and Europe. Those years fostered a lifelong devotion to local food gatherers and appreciation for those who live close to the land and sea.
She eventually returned to Sitka, Alaska, to open Ludvig’s Bistro, a Mediterranean-inspired seafood restaurant that became a beloved community treasure and a beacon of warmth for a Southeast coastal town. While she earned national acclaim in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Fodor’s, her true glory was the way she made every guest feel like they belonged. For over two decades, she welcomed the world to her tables, pouring her creativity, inspiration and love into each meal. Known as the best restaurant in Alaska, Ludvig's became a gold standard for local food, and service with its greatest legacy being the joy it brought to Sitkans and visitors who proudly “ingested” the restaurant motto that Food is Love.
Colette participated in several national chef competitions. She brought salmon in a violin case and shipped it to Louisiana where she competed in the National Seafood Festival. Years before, she carried another salmon in her violin case, this time on a red- eye bound for New York to see Grammy Award winner and friend Cuban musician Pacito D’Rivera, who was playing Carnegie Hall.
In 2005, she met Hannah, the love her life, on a film set. Guggenheim was hired to make a film about Colette's restaurant and the rest is history. In 2013, they married and also welcomed their son, Miles, who brought Colette her greatest pride and happiness. In time Colette stepped away from the restaurant, but never from her community. She continued to give generously through activism, mentorship, and friendship.
Colette continued her dedication to supporting seafood caught with care by real people, nestled in communities by joining the Don’t Cage Our Oceans Coalition. As a chef connector, she helped the coalition raise awareness of the problems with industrial fish farms while spreading solutions. Colette spoke at events, met with members of Congress in Washington, D.C., and brought a unique perspective to the effort.
Colette is survived by her wife Hannah, son Miles, parents Doug and Rita Nelson, brothers Darin and Gary, and countless friends and loved ones.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In her honor, the family invites those who knew her – and those who wish they had – to create a special meal with someone they love, lift a glass to the sea, and carry forward her belief that food, like life, is best when shared.
