Kimberly Benoit

Kimberly Ann (Rochford) Benoit, 62, of Kalamazoo, MI, died Saturday, May 18, 2019, following a more than five-year battle with brain cancer. Kim was born May 9, 1957 in Corpus Christi, TX. As one of five children of a naval aviator, she lived in Texas, Virginia, Hawaii and California. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles) where she met and married her husband of nearly 40 years. Before starting a family, Kim worked at her alma mater while earning a Master of Arts in Counseling & Guidance. She and her husband raised three beautiful children while living in California, Illinois, Connecticut and, since 1997, Kalamazoo. She loved preparing and sharing a meal with family and friends, music and travel, exercising almost daily with her dear friends at SWAT and Bronson Athletic Club, and walks in the neighborhood or on the beaches of Carmel and Monterey Bay. She also loved talking politics and religion, reading, praying, singing, laughing, doing the Word Jumble on Sunday mornings with a cup of coffee, and speaking in a faux-English accent! Perhaps most of all, she treasured every opportunity to cheer enthusiastically in the stands as the #1 super-fan of each of her children. Kim is survived by her husband, Stephen; her children Sarah (Stephen), Emily, and William; grandchildren Moses and Esther; sisters Jamie and Patricia (Tim); brothers William (Janet) and Stephen (Renee); nieces Heather (Mike), Christine (Jerry), Kirsten (Luke), Katharine (Geoff), Elizabeth and Claire; nephews Daniel, Stephen and Eric; and five great-nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents Commander John M. Rochford, USN Ret. and Joan Ethel Rochford, brother Peter, and great-nephew Edward. A funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, June 1, at 10:30am at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church located at 1150 West Centre Avenue, Portage, MI. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan (https://www.hospiceswmi.org/). Kim was an unwavering friend, sister, wife and mother. A faith-filled advocate for compassion and justice, she embraced life with a servant heart. Kim had the ability to light up any room she was in, and to make you feel as if you were the only person in the world when she was talking to you. She radiated strength, beauty, and pure love, as a woman dedicated to living so generously. Kim will be missed dearly and her unconditional love will live on through her friends and family.