Corinne
This memorial website was created in memory of our wonderful Kate.
Many people have sent very special condolence notes. Please feel free to post those notes here as well so that we can share them, or to leave other notes.
We have posted a lot of pictures of Kate that we had digitized on Terence's computer. Please post your photos as well - try to indicate dates. Brandon, Allegra and Terence will also be adding to this site over the next few weeks so please check back from time to time.
We are having a small service here in England. We will arrange for a memorial in the US later this year.
In lieu of flowers, I know Kate would have deeply apppreciated gifts in her name to Barnard College (Class of 1973) in support of student scholarships.
We will remember her forever.
Tributes
Leave a tributeCorinne
Your old friend,
Denis
Your old SHU friend,
Denis M.
Thinking of you and Kate today and always.
Your old SHU buddy,
Denis
Jinghuan and Xiong
Thinking of you and your beloved Kate on her birthday.
Your old SHU friend,
Denis
Your old friend from Seton Hall,
Denis
Terence and family, you are also in our thoughts today and wish you the continued comfort of shared times and healing
Corinne
Matthew 5:4
My thoughts and prayers are with you
She is one of those people who will be sorely missed.
Here, as in Egypt and Central Asia, they and their family are fondly remembered.
The local staff and partners’ faces light up at the mention of Kate’s name, and everyone has a favorite story or adventure with her. All of them revolve around her kindness and grace, and the remarkable love that she and Terence had for each other, their children and family and their many friends.
Kate was a creator and a pollinator and a cultivator. She was incredibly smart and generous, and just plain fun. I first met Kate through work, and admired her energy, creativity, and ability to develop relationships and talent and community. Working with human rights lawyers in Uzbekistan, mentoring our staff in Turkmenistan, encouraging law students and young lawyers and always finding ways to get things done, no matter the obstacles. She had a million ideas.
I appreciated all those wonderful qualities in a different way after becoming her friend and seeing how she brought them to her personal life and home. I was lucky enough to join Kate and Terence for a spectacular vacation in Provence where they welcomed me into the mix of family and friends going back to Barnard days and earlier and every part of her life since then. Whether it was finding the perfect turquoise scarf, and selection of cheeses at a market in Provence, or sightseeing off the beaten path, Kate made everything an occasion to be celebrated. What a gift. We missed her terribly this year in Padua, but it comforted all of us there – and we hope especially Terence and the family – to feel her spirit and imagine her with us at Palladian villas and sitting in the garden.
I think it was George Eliot who said that the darkest night the world has ever known did not put out the stars. Kate, we wish we still had the light of your life physically with us, but you continue to shine. Remembering our time together reminds us what is means to be a wonderful friend and a wonderful person who made everyone whose life she touched better in big ways and small. Shine on, dear Kate.
Ghada, Kamal, Joe and Jessy
To Terrence and family from your old SHU friend,
Denis
It is only Kate shearing a year or two because she can not be with all of you but it also shows she is with you always. God bless you, your children and grandchildren. You are all in my prayers. Love Joy H Fink
Les
I have been at a loss for words since hearing the tragic news. I met Kate my first day of college in 1969, and as you know, we participated in each other's weddings. I am so sad that she is gone, and my heart goes out to you and Allegra and Brandon. Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers often. Let us know when you are back in Michigan and open to a visit. With sympathy and love, Janna
I met Kati, as she introduced herself to me, in Amsterdam, in 1969, when I had just started studying there. We agreed to become pen pals. In 1971, I worked for Holland-America-Line and thus had the opportunity to visit her in NYC, where she studied at Columbia.
It was Kati who brought us all together. My sincere wish is that we continue the bond we have thanks to her. It would be a tribute to her and I think that's what she would have wanted.
Kati will be sorely missed by all of us, in the first place Terence, Allegra and Brandon, of course. Let us help each other come to terms with her loss, because we are all shattered.
Jaap
Kate was my director when I was working with ABA ROLI in Tunisia and she was a wonderful person. She was very supportive and encouraging to me for my career and my studies. She recommended me and advised me on my career and always had kind words for me.
We talked a lot and laughed often. We discussed about law, music, food and all sorts of things. Kate was more than a colleague, a friend.
I am sorry that we could not meet again although we tried. She called me soon after I arrived to the U.S. and was very kind as always.
I extend my most sincere condolences to her family.
I am so saddened and shocked to hear of Kate's passing. Deanne and I have such fond memories of the two of you sharing information about your Fulbright and other experiences in China (Foreign Affairs University, International School of Beijing, etc.) with us before our own 6 month sojourn there with our own young family some years later. Kate was so kind and generous on those and other occasions, and truly infectious with her inimitable enthusiasm. The world has lost a bright light.
Deepest condolences to you and Allegra and Brandon.
With sympathy,
Mike
Years later she showed me the ruins of Tunis after inviting me to partake in her important work there. She knew how to live, and live it to the hilt. No one could tell a story with the drama and flair of Kate.
And Kate was dramatic in the best possible way.
Leave a Tribute
Corinne
Kate--the Movie Buff
Kate introduced me to the love of movies (I grew up in a household that poo-poo'd movies), and had not seen more than 2 movies until I got to Barnard. On the first dorm movie night, she announced that I must go with her--you'll love it........
With that, she turned me into a movie buff--though, nowhere close to her in breadth, in depth, and in scope. When Tom and I saw Wait Until Dark 10 days ago, as part of a revisit to Audrey Hepburn movies, I pined for that evening, and all that followed with Kate.
Kate as we remember her
My wife Rhona and I first met Terence and Kate in 1998 when Terence was teaching at China Foreign Affairs University as a Fulbright professor (I was a Fulbright scholar to the United States during 1995-1996). Allegra and Brandon stayed with their parents in Beijing at a university campus apartment near ours for a whole semester while Terence was teaching.
Our friendship started since then and after 1998 we met Kate and Terence at least twice in Beijing and once in the US at their home.
Kate was such a nice person and we will always remember her.
Song