Dear blog friends & followers:
Thank you for tuning in. It is with deep grief and sadness that I write this evening, as my mentor and dear friend Kathryn "Kitty" Kalisz has suddenly passed away. More specifically, Kathryn's life was taken from her in a violent way.
Kathryn was founder of the company Sci\ART, the leader in the field of color analysis, education, training materials and supplies. Kathryn, together with her 3 grown daughters and 2 other staff members, ran the business.
I am especially sad to report that Kathryn's office manager Debbie's life was also taken, and that Kathryn's youngest daughter Manessa was shot, injured and is now recovering in the hospital. Yet another employee Amy was shot and has also been hospitalized.
I simply cannot focus on any other details of these deaths. It is too tragic and painful.
In this blog post, I want to let you all know who Kathryn was to me, and how much of an impact she has had on my work as a professional color analyst.
Kathryn trained me individually for both Color Analysis certification and an advanced course called Color Mixing & Matching. We formed a bond in that we were both entrepreneurs, had a strong love of color, and were mothers of 3 children (though Kathryn's girls are grown now).
Kathryn was not only my mentor, but certainly one of my biggest cheerleaders. I would lean on her not only for business advice but for emotional support in the ups and downs of running my own business.
The pain of not being able to pick up the phone right now to call Kathryn is almost unbearable. There's so much to tell her....so much to catch up on....so many things happening in our business that she'd be extremely proud of.
One thing brings me comfort, though. Kathryn's daughters Louanna, Suzie and Manessa plan to continue running the Sci\ART company once they've had time to heal and put together their plan of action. They all wish to carry on their mother's legacy.
I am deeply touched that Kathryn's last blog post was dedicated to the time she and I recently spent together on Color Mixing & Matching. When I learned of her death, I frantically searched for a photo of us together....something at least to hold onto.
Imagine my surprise when a fellow color analyst forwarded me this link to Kitty's last post: http://blog.coloranalysis.com/?p=109
My prayers go out to the Sci\ART family right now in the wake of these terrible losses of life.
Lauren
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1 comment:
Beautifully written, Lauren. I have found this loss more than I feel able to absorb, and I only ever spoke with Kathryn by phone. To think that such a lifeforce could be extinguished seems like it must be an enormous mistake that will somehow be corrected. She was a woman of grace and beauty and giving. It was an honor to have known her at all.
I'm so glad to read that her daughters and their families will carry on Kathryn's work. It will be up to them, and to us, to keep her memory alive. Her hand still guides us, just in a different form.
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