Kathryn Caranlik Simon's Obituary
Kathryn Caranlik Simon, who battled breast cancer for 23 years with an extraordinary courage and a determination to lead a full and complete life, died Wednesday, September 17, 2014, in the company of her loving family.Born June 8, 1952, in San Francisco to John and Bessie Caranlik, Kathy was raised in South San Francisco, graduated from South San Francisco High School and with honors from Skyline College in San Bruno and with distinction from San Jose State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in public relations.She entered the workforce a quiet pioneer, part of the vanguard of women shedding traditional roles and assertively seeking leadership positions and professional lives.She worked at the Silicon Valley seminal company Ampex, at health products pioneer Shaklee Corp. and Peninsula public relations agencies before forming her own public affairs consulting business, Simon Communications, where she specialized in strategic public communications. She played an instrumental role in building public support for such landmark developments as the Bay Meadows retail and residential project in San Mateo, the IKEA store in East Palo Alto and the renovation of Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City. She also advised several elected officials, including Congresswoman Anna Eshoo.A parishioner at Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont, Kathy was a member of the board of directors of Philoptochos, a women’s organization that engages in community-based charitable works.In 1991, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After recovery from surgery and chemotherapy, Kathy joined a group of cancer survivors, doctors and health care workers to form the Community Breast Health Project, a Palo Alto-based organization that provides cancer patients with information, treatment options, support and preventive health measures. Recently, the organization, reflecting its expanded charter, was renamed Bay Area Cancer Connections.More than 10 years later, she was diagnosed a second time – an entirely separate incident of breast cancer – and then a third time three years ago with metastatic breast cancer. Subsequent chemotherapy harmed her heart and led to a lengthy hospitalization two years ago. Despite the expectations of health care professionals, Kathy walked out of the Stanford Hospital CICU and was able to travel to New York to hold in her arms her first granddaughter, Dylan Rose.She was known for a full and giving heart, a fierce and joyful love for her family and friends, unstinting expectations for herself and her family and a willingness to fight against the constraints of her illness.With much the same determination, she accepted the unavoidable conclusion that came with her illness and when she passed – with her husband and two sons at her side –she was at peace and prepared for a journey to a place of rest, free of burden, pain and worry.She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Mark; two sons, David of New York City and Alexander of Redwood City; daughter-in-law Jeanette O’Donoghue Simon; two cherished granddaughters, Dylan Rose Simon and Sloane Kathryn Simon; two sisters, Elaine Adams of Santa Cruz and Beverly Heppler of Concord; and a loving family of nieces and nephews and their children. A third sister, Elizabeth Burgard, predeceased Kathy, also from cancer.A Trisagion service will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday, September 21, preceded by visitation from 5-7 p.m., at Crippen & Flynn Woodside Chapel, 400 Woodside Road, Redwood City. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, September 22, at Church of the Holy Cross, 900 Alameda de las Pulgas, Belmont. Interment will follow at Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo.
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