Kathryn Collins Stewart, whom friends and family knew affectionately as “Katy” died of hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer, on December 30, surrounded by family. She was 12.
I had the pleasure of working with Katy and her family several years before she became ill. The evening of their family portrait session was a blue sky sunshine kind of day. We met at Atlantic Beach in Amagansett. Katy was a little shy as we began the portrait session but it didn’t take long for her to open up, let that beautiful smile out and enjoy playing along the water’s edge. By the time we reached the upper dunes, she changed into a beautiful flowing white dress; the sky was almost beginning to turn pink. She floated like an angel along the pathway in the tall grass. I was struck by her radiate beauty inside and out.
I feel blessed to have known her and our heartfelt condolences and prayers are with her family.
If you’d like to make a contribution, the family requests that donations be made to the Max Cure Foundation, Inc., 21 Settler’s Lane, Westfield, New Jersey 07090 or via maxcure.org. Donors should indicate whether funds are to be used for a scholarship fund in Katy’s memory at Pierson High School or for pediatric cancer research in her honor at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The scholarship will be awarded to students who exemplify remarkable courage, kindness and empathy.
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