Kathryn M. Dempsey

Waltham – ". . . how beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it . . ."

Kathy Dempsey knew both beauty and kindness in large doses throughout her life. Her delightful smile and warm personality belied her four year long struggle with colon cancer. On Friday, August 4, 2017 Kathy died of the disease at her sister, Karen's home in Milford . . . but in the end, love won and the cancer lost. She was 52.

She worked for years as a waitress at the Naked Fish restaurant in Waltham and devoted all of her time to being a great mother to her children, Amanda and Aidan. The past year brought unimaginable sadness to the family, first with the sudden loss of Karen's husband, Rob, and a month later Amanda and Aidan's dad, Steven Wenckus, died suddenly as well. The tragic events brought the family closer than ever with three generations of a family circling the wagons to help one another. Kathy never had to endure a hard chemo treatment without her sister Karen holding her hand . . . the kids grew beyond their years . . . and Dad and Mom, Jack and Joan, facing challenges of their own, always there to lend support where they could.

It also helped that Kathy had a wonderful and kind and generous group of friends, most dating back to childhood and her teen years, and who always let her know that she was never alone. She called them 'Kathy's Angels' . . . and that's what they are.

Kathryn M. Dempsey was born in Cambridge on February 14, 1965, a daughter of John J. "Jack" and Joan M. (Gilreath) Dempsey. She was a lifelong resident of Waltham and graduated from Waltham High School in 1983.

In addition to her parents, Jack and Joan, of Waltham she leaves her children, Amanda L. and Aidan A. Wenckus; her sister, Karen M. Harnett of Milford and her nephew and niece, Michael and Abigail Harnett.

Family and friends will honor and remember Kathy's life by gathering for calling hours in the Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Wednesday, August 9th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning before leaving in procession to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church, 880 Trapelo Road, Waltham, where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 am. Burial will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to: www.gofundme.com/amanda-and-aidan