LODI - On the evening of March 21, 2023, Kelly Lynn Malby Hatch passed away surrounded by her friends and family, over a year after she was first diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

My mother was the strongest woman I knew. The second she was diagnosed, she declared she would be her own statistic. Kelly proudly made it to another Christmas after she was told, very sternly, that she wouldn’t. Kelly was born Sept. 9, 1969, and she built her life all on her own terms.

Kelly accomplished much in her life, such as her years working as a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and her many records set at Three Forks High School and Montana State University, running cross country and track. But of all these, she said being a mother was the most rewarding. Days before her passing, my mother told me she hoped she made Robby and I proud, and I reassured her that she overachieved in that category. I am incredibly proud of my mom and am grateful for every second I had with her. When she told me that her fight with cancer was coming to an end, I told her that knowing her was worth all of the pain her passing has caused. She was my best friend as well as my mom. Kelly kept a journal where she wrote to her children during her year and a half or so of fighting. In this journal there is a particular entry where she said she would fight for as long as she could so she could be here for her kids. My mom didn’t let go until her son, Robby, told her she could stop fighting; in that same minute, the world lost the brightest soul that there ever was and my mother’s battle with cancer came to a draw.

Kelly lives on in the lives of her “people” as she called them - an extended network of those she loved and who loved her in return: parents, coaches, siblings, friends, partners, teammates, and community members. Most important, her children Robert Hatch, Jr., and Nellie Mae Hatch. My brother and I intend to carry on our mother’s legacy by living life to the fullest, cherishing every moment, and keeping our people close.

A Celebration of Life will be held in honor of Kelly in July at her lakeside home in Lodi, Wis.

Two opportunities to honor Kelly include: Making a contribution to the Ice Age Trail Alliance, an organization near and dear to Kelly’s heart; and/or to the Kelly Malby Hatch Track  Memorial, ℅ Jeri Gilbert, 6051 Glenbeigh Drive, Sylvania, OH 43560. 

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