Kathleen Rose Alfier
August 5, 1956 - November 19, 2022
The world has lost a beautiful, gentle and sweet soul. We mourn the loss of Kathleen Rose Alfier, who passed on Saturday November 19, 2022. Kathy was born August 5, 1956 in Seward, Alaska. She was a wise and enlightened soul with a gentle, caring spirit, admired by many.
Kathy was an avid music fan, and witnessed countless live performances by the great bands of her time including Led Zepplin, Green Day and Pearl Jam. She felt music deeply - on a soul level, and she instilled that love in those who knew her well, including her brother who Bill identifies Kathy as largely responsible for his own lifelong love of music and career in the music industry. "Throughout our entire lives we were talking, comparing, watching, listening or turning each other on to new music".
Kathy was as big a sports fan as she was a music fan. She loved the Red Sox, The Pats, The Celtics and The Bruins. As a Boston sports fan, she lived through a great era and celebrated the glory of so many championships with friends and family. Kathy felt the elation in the redemptive justice surrounding the Red Sox World Series win in 2004, however perhaps equally if not more profoundly, she had a strong sense of justice in the world, believing in the rights and fair treatment of all beings.
Kathy was a Harvard girl who quickly became the darling of the Radiology Department at Dana Farber Cancer Hospital. She was so beloved that a photograph of her was chosen to front the cover page of the oncology department catalogue each patient received following a cancer diagnosis. Treating patients often at the lowest point in their lives, Kathy had a special way with them. Her approach was authentic and empathically attuned to each individual. Patients and their families felt truly cared for and bestowed upon her much gratitude and adoration - she was magic in their eyes.
An artist of the highest order, Kathy's creativity was evidenced in everything she touched and throughout her home; a showcase of imagination and artistic vision. Her feng shui was impeccable! She spent endless hours over the years creating and curating the gardens around her Plymouth home. They too were masterpieces of beauty & design; and both nourishment for body and soul showcasing dozens of multicolored flowers and vegetables that attracted nature's bounty of birds and bees. She loved the natural world in all its forms. Drawn to the ocean whether beautifully calm or chaotically restless, she reveled in just sitting by the water and looking out to the sea, observing the grace of seagulls in flight.
33 years ago on June 24th 1989 her greatest day ever, Kathy Hurley, escorted down the aisle by her youngest brother Bill, walked across the lawns of the Alfier family summer home in Centerville, MA, to marry Charles Alfier. Charlie, a man of character; one that represented all that is good and honest in this world - the only kind of man Kathy would accept as a lifelong partner. Charlie's love for her defines unconditional. A true companion through life's joys and challenges, he held her through to the end with strength and dignity. She will be dearly missed and our memories of her cherished.
Kathy is mourned by her beloved husband Charles Alfier, Plymouth, MA, her mother Jean Hurley, St. Paul, MN, her brother Ken Hurley and his wife Tracie, Apple Valley, MN, her nephew Kevin Hurley, Memphis, TN, her niece Kelly Scanlon, Apple Valley, MN, her niece Kristen Diez, Ann Arbor, MI, her brother William Hurley (Youngblood) and his partner Maribeth Arena, Blackstone, MA, as well as countless friends across far too few years.
Kathy was an avid music fan, and witnessed countless live performances by the great bands of her time including Led Zepplin, Green Day and Pearl Jam. She felt music deeply - on a soul level, and she instilled that love in those who knew her well, including her brother who Bill identifies Kathy as largely responsible for his own lifelong love of music and career in the music industry. "Throughout our entire lives we were talking, comparing, watching, listening or turning each other on to new music".
Kathy was as big a sports fan as she was a music fan. She loved the Red Sox, The Pats, The Celtics and The Bruins. As a Boston sports fan, she lived through a great era and celebrated the glory of so many championships with friends and family. Kathy felt the elation in the redemptive justice surrounding the Red Sox World Series win in 2004, however perhaps equally if not more profoundly, she had a strong sense of justice in the world, believing in the rights and fair treatment of all beings.
Kathy was a Harvard girl who quickly became the darling of the Radiology Department at Dana Farber Cancer Hospital. She was so beloved that a photograph of her was chosen to front the cover page of the oncology department catalogue each patient received following a cancer diagnosis. Treating patients often at the lowest point in their lives, Kathy had a special way with them. Her approach was authentic and empathically attuned to each individual. Patients and their families felt truly cared for and bestowed upon her much gratitude and adoration - she was magic in their eyes.
An artist of the highest order, Kathy's creativity was evidenced in everything she touched and throughout her home; a showcase of imagination and artistic vision. Her feng shui was impeccable! She spent endless hours over the years creating and curating the gardens around her Plymouth home. They too were masterpieces of beauty & design; and both nourishment for body and soul showcasing dozens of multicolored flowers and vegetables that attracted nature's bounty of birds and bees. She loved the natural world in all its forms. Drawn to the ocean whether beautifully calm or chaotically restless, she reveled in just sitting by the water and looking out to the sea, observing the grace of seagulls in flight.
33 years ago on June 24th 1989 her greatest day ever, Kathy Hurley, escorted down the aisle by her youngest brother Bill, walked across the lawns of the Alfier family summer home in Centerville, MA, to marry Charles Alfier. Charlie, a man of character; one that represented all that is good and honest in this world - the only kind of man Kathy would accept as a lifelong partner. Charlie's love for her defines unconditional. A true companion through life's joys and challenges, he held her through to the end with strength and dignity. She will be dearly missed and our memories of her cherished.
Kathy is mourned by her beloved husband Charles Alfier, Plymouth, MA, her mother Jean Hurley, St. Paul, MN, her brother Ken Hurley and his wife Tracie, Apple Valley, MN, her nephew Kevin Hurley, Memphis, TN, her niece Kelly Scanlon, Apple Valley, MN, her niece Kristen Diez, Ann Arbor, MI, her brother William Hurley (Youngblood) and his partner Maribeth Arena, Blackstone, MA, as well as countless friends across far too few years.
