Kim Paspuletti was my loving friend.

A lot of folks in Town could say the same thing. She was generous of spirit, had an easy laugh, and would be available to help with everything. She knew a lot of people I still don't know, and when she would come up to Sandisfield to visit after they sold her house, she would drop in on friends for coffee and a chat. And she would inevitably bring something she had made, whether to wear, to eat, or to decorate with.

I can't remember when I met her, but I am pretty sure it was through Karlene Blass, who still lives on the same road as Kim. I remember being so impressed with Kim's huge unique log house on Beech Plain Road, decorated with care and imagination, and seeing the biggest Christmas tree I'd ever laid eyes on.

One of the features of Kim's character and personality was indicated by a sign at the entrance to her driveway that said ALWAYS, and although there were folks who thought that was their family name, what Kim meant was that people were always welcome.

And then we would swim in the summer at York Lake. Although Kim could drop into any water anywhere, I couldn't, so after helping me into the lake, she would swim past the ropes with Karlene and they would swim dozens of laps. She was powerful, was our Kimmie. And we decided that we would be the Sandisfield Swim Team. Others were invited, too, such as Christine Nadelman and Miriam Karmel. We always enjoyed our time together.

Although she swam as often as she could during the summer months, every fall, Kim would don her insulated shirt and leggings to swim in York Lake, no matter how cold the temperature. She had the perfect swimmer's long body and powerful legs and arms.

Kim was also an avid and fierce golfer. When she belonged to the Canaan Country Club, she would play as part of a men's foursome, always holding her own with strength and low scores.

On July 9, 2025, Kim Paspuletti died suddenly in New York City as she lived: quietly, alone, and after helping a friend. She did not like to be a bother to others. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, with 15 years between diagnoses, she never complained. Kim simply adjusted.

Kim was a gifted clothing artist whose abilities stretched far beyond sewing. Her fabric designs included reworking material from one genre to a totally different one, and she wore her designs beautifully. She also worked in interior design, imaging space creatively for new and clever uses.

Once, when I complimented her on a pleated damask skirt she had worn, she told me she had crafted it from an old tablecloth. Imagine!

Originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, Kim graduated from the University of Minnesota and proceeded to work in various fields of the garment trade, including design and merchandising.

Kim was a well-traveled woman, as well. Among her visits to other countries were Costa Rica, Mexico, India, France, Japan, Italy, and the Bahamas. From each of these countries, Kim collected small works of art and culture that enhanced the lives of herself, her husband Chandru, and her children Dru and Klay.

And she was a gardener! She could plant anything anywhere and coax it to life. In her apartment in New York City, she had lots of small potted plants on her windowsills, and she always said they reminded her of the gardens she had tended on Beech Plain Road.

Her surviving family lives all around the United States. She is fondly and lovingly remembered by her daughter Klay and son Dru, her two grandchildren, Amira and Esther Conaway, her sister Sherry and her brother Rick, and by lots of other people who just loved her.

I am proud that I am one of those people.

There will be a Service of Remembrance for Kim at the New Boston Congregational Church at a future date, including the dedication of a Rose of Sharon bush in her honored memory.