July 27, 1984 – June 29, 2025

Alexis Ann Veeh, beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister, and teacher passed away peacefully on June 29, 2025, in Truckee, California, with her family beside her. With her fighting spirit and boundless heart, she has given everything to those she has loved and her community and so we know that her soul will be eternal. We invite all to take comfort in the loving example she has left in the classroom, the outdoors, and her home so that we may all take up the legacy she has left.

Alexis was born in San Clemente, California, on July 27, 1984, to Gay Veeh and John Veeh and grew up in Capistrano Beach along with her older sister Elese. She graduated from San Clemente High School in 2002 and the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2006, where she nurtured her growing love of the natural world as an environmental studies major focusing on geology, supporting her studies with time in Alaska and New Zealand. After graduating, she moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where she met Matthew Drexel, a fellow ski instructor. After three years in Steamboat, they moved to the Denver area to begin their service as public school teachers. Alexis earned her teaching credential from the University of Colorado Boulder and later earned her Master of Arts in Teaching while pregnant with her first child, Willa. Alexis taught science at East Middle School in Aurora, Colorado. As a new teacher, she was routinely showcased by the district as a model for inclusive classrooms, ensuring her learning spaces were welcome for all learners.

Alexis and Matt moved to Truckee, California, in 2014 and were married that same year in the presence of their loving community in the shadow of Mt. Lincoln in Norden, California. Alexis continued her teaching career in Reno, first as an elementary school teacher and then as a special education teacher in Washoe County School District. In 2019, Alexis began her work in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District as a behavior specialist and special education teacher at Truckee High School and later as a science teacher at Sierra High School. In these roles, Alexis’s quiet and determined leadership and unwavering faith in all of her students to complete their goals shone through. Her students speak of her as a unique inspiration.

As her experience grew, Alexis served as an official and unofficial mentor to many new teachers. Her guidance in this role means that her teaching lives on in classrooms and schools throughout the community.

Beyond teaching, Alexis served as Truckee High School’s varsity girls soccer coach and as a volunteer coach for Girls on the Run, AYSO soccer, and Truckee Little League.

Throughout it all, Alexis continued to combine her unselfish devotion to others with her love of the outdoors. Alexis and Matt together hiked the John Muir Trail in 2015 and gave freely of their time as volunteer ski instructors with Achieve Tahoe at Alpine Meadows. There, Alexis helped individuals with disabilities experience the joy of skiing; her patience, empathy, flexibility, and humor provided a shining example for her students and colleagues. Our Alexis drank fully from the beauty around her and in return gave as much as she received, and in so doing leaves behind a legacy in the outdoors that can never be replaced.

Alexis gave birth to her daughter, Willa, in 2018, and her son, Cal, in 2022. Alexis’s love of these beautiful and brave children knew no bounds. She leaves for them an example of strength and compassion, and we all now take up the responsibility of building on her sturdy foundation to support them as they grow in her light. Alexis’s time in this world has ended but we take comfort knowing that in the next she takes with her a good book to be enjoyed on a quiet morning and a collection of her favorite board games, where she is waiting for us all. Our Alexis, “Auntie Owl”, Ms. Veeh, mama, we’ll see you down the trail.
Alexis is survived by her husband, Matthew Drexel, her children, Willa and Calvin Drexel, her mother, Gay Veeh, her father, John Veeh, her sister, Elese Veeh Stutts, and Elese’s husband Christoph Stutts. Alexis is also survived by her father and mother in law Grayson and Linda Drexel as well as her sisters in law Emily Gould and Allison Drexel. Alexis is also survived by her nieces and nephews Graham, Johnny, Mason, Annabelle, Vivian, and Henry.
The family asks that in Alexis’s name any donations are made to one of the following organizations:

Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation https://acpmp.org/

Friends of the Truckee Library https://www.truckeefol.org/

Achieve Tahoe https://www.achievetahoe.org/