Kathleen Marie Abell Bonfigli, 56, of Essex passed away suddenly at her home on Saturday August 12, 2017. She was born on December 22, 1960 in Burlington, daughter of Shirley (Aldrich) Abell and the late James Abell.

When thinking about Kathy’s passions, family, biking and teaching and spending time on the lakeimmediately come to mind. Kathy and her first love, Dan, explored and lived throughout the country. Together, they were a power team, supporting and pushing each other to succeed, dream big, and of course, have fun. They started their journey in Texas, but ended up establishing roots in Miami, Florida where they started their family with Gabby, but also with lifelong friends. The love of activity never ended and has continuously impressed those around her. She was always up for trying something new, whether that was trying cross country skiing, hiking or really anything she put her mind to.

Kathy aspired to hike with Gabby all over Vermont with her brand hew purple Merrill’s that she was so proud of.She was truly excited about Gabby and the woman that she has become. They always have had a special connection together. She was not only an incredibly support system to Gabby, but was also a best friend from the day Gabby was born; through endless memories, soccer games and tennis matches, through her education and career choices, to dancing on the dance floor of her wedding reception.

For over a decade, Kathy enjoyed her time on the lake with family during the summer. It was a place of relaxation, memories, and fun. While on the lake, she got to do another activity she loved, kayaking. Lake Champlain provided her with opportunities to explore and bond with her family from Shelburne all the way up to Alburg. She loved discovering new things with her sister Kim, which included collecting sea glass, indulging in maple creemees, and adding to their collection of tye-dye shirts.

Biking brought Kathy so much joy. She loved being out on the Vermont roads with her friends and family. Throughout her biking travels, she often hit 1,000 miles per summer and had map where she highlighted the routes she biked in Vermont. Her goal this summer was to bike as many new roads as possible. She biked everywhere, from the islands of Vermont, down to the beaches of Florida, up through Ontario, and all the way out West to Utah with great friends and family. She always dreamt of biking on the beautiful roads and mountains of Europe and that is one goal we will have to cross off for her.

From 1994, Kathy has been a third grade teacher at Mallet’s Bay School in Colchester. With no hesitation, family, friends and colleagues can say she was a favorite. She was always taking classes to advance her knowledge and catch wind of the next new thing. This hard work and hunger for information lead her to recently earn her Master’s. Kathy always contained such pride about what she was learning and was eager to pass it along in true teacher fashion. This passage inspired others to become educators, as well as the rest of us as a guide for how we should live our lives.

Kathy had a great love of literacy, both reading and writing, and wanted all of her students to strive for the same. Most of all, she wanted to make sure everyone was having fun. She had an active and impressive blog to share her knowledge and creativity surrounding her classroom, and often guided her class with activity throughout the school day by dancing, running around the playground or simply getting out of their seats. Kathy thrived as an educator and truly valued the collaboration with her colleagues.

Kathy was filled with tenacity, spunk, and life. Simply being around her was energizing. You couldn’t be around Kathy without a smile on your face and a laugh coming from your belly. It was so easy to enjoy those memories with fun music playing, storytelling, jokes, dance moves, admiration and as always, fun.She had the most encouraging, upbeat and motivating words and was a true role model to everyone that was lucky enough to know her.

We can all take satisfaction in knowing that she had one of the best summers of her life this year. It was the first time in many years that she didn’t take a class and she was available for so many friends and family. Kathy was great at keeping in touch and wanted to celebrate life in so many ways.

Kathleen is survived by her daughter, Gabriela Bonfigli and husband Charles Hutchinson, her mother Shirley Abell, mother and father-in-law Nellyand George Bonfigli, sister Kimberly and Daniel Nicasio their children Bethany and her children Chance, Shea, Kaiden, Liam and Lincoln O’Connor and Trevor Thompson and wife Leslie and their children Cole and Maisie, Alexandra and Gabriel Nicasio, four brothers James Abell and sons Kristopher and Cory, Stephen Abell and his children Ryan and wife Jamie and their children Carter, Keghan, Braydon and Mia, Dustin his wife Melissa and their son Charlie and daughter Amelia, Logan and Shyanna, Greg and Karen Abell and children Dylan and his son Alistair, and Sarah, Mark and Jill Abell and their children Zachary and Nickolas, four brothers-in-law Edward Bonfigli and Dayna Adamson, Michael Bonfigli and his son Luca, Andrew Bonfigli, his wife Susan and their sons Michael and Alex, Mark Bonfigli, Marisa Mora, Ray Andreason and an uncle, several aunts and cousins. Kathy was also survived by her furry sidekick, “Elle.”
Visiting hours will be held from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday August 17, 2017 at A W Rich Funeral Home – Essex Chapel. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Friday August 18, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Family Church, Essex Junction with the Reverend Charles Ranges SSE and the Reverend Michael DeForge concelebrating. Inurnment will be private and at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Kathy Bonfigli Playground and Active Play Fund. This fund will support kids in all manners of play including Bike to School Day and learning how to play tennis in PE. Checks can be made out to Colchester School District, Attn: Kathy Bonfigli Playground Fund and can be mailed to George Tribe, Business Manager, Colchester School District, P.O Box 27, Colchester, VT, 05446.