I met Kate in Spring semester second year physics classes at Kenyon. She was a bit of an interloper into the small cohort of Physics majors at Kenyon, having returned to school after her 3 year break. I was a 19 year old boy who had rarely left Ohio. She was also raised in Ohio, but had lived several years in Chicago. Wow. Thus a broad arc of my life was set in motion.

We were both at Kenyon for a summer research program. She spent days in a physics lab and I spent clear nights observing for an astronomy project. We explored Gambier and campus places of her childhood and bicycled around Knox county.

Kate was a kind and thoughtful person, good and generous to all. To her friends this was even more true.

Kate was a focused and determined student during her second stint at Kenyon. She enjoyed physics and did well in classes and research.

We spent several breaks together in Chicago. Kate had spent much of her time off from Kenyon in the punk/grunge music scene in Chicago and was friends with members of Smashing Pumpkins as the band formed. I have fond memories of New Year's Eve concerts at the Metro. The Frames, particularly Kate's mom, were very welcoming.

Kate graduated Kenyon a year ahead of me. When I graduated, I followed Kate to grad school at Michigan State. Our relationship ended the next year but we remained friends during grad school and while doing research on the DZero experiment at the Fermilab particle physics lab.

While things have improved (somewhat), women physicists in the early 90s were trailblazers and sometimes faced the remains of a skeptical "old boys" culture in the field. Even at Kenyon, gender issues in the sciences arose and were topics of debate. Kate was a stabilizing voice in these issues.

I have not had much contact with Kate in the last many years. I'm saddened by the loss of Kate.

With kind and loving wishes,

Tom Rockwell