Kimberly Helen Flory
Kimberly Flory was born October 19, 1955 in Escondido Ca. She came to Santa Barbara in 1973 from her home town of Riverside, Ca. to attend UCSB. She graduated in 1977 with a BA in Studio Art.
All through school, Kim worked waiting tables at the original Sambo’s on Cabrillo Blvd.
For the next thirty years people would stop her to say that they remembered her from those days. In the years to come Kim worked at other cafes in Santa Barbara. Most Notably Moby Dick’s and The Brown Pelican.
While attending UCSB, Kim lived in IV and Goleta with many roommates; several became lifelong friends with whom she continued to correspond and exchange her famous handmade Valentines. They were all her dear friends right up to her last days.
She kept up her love of art after University. During the 1980s, Kim decided to broaden her employment opportunities with drafting classes at SBCC. With this new skill she started making floor plans and elevations for real estate agents and mechanical drawings for architects and contractors. This work eventually led to a position as a HVAC parts estimator for plumbing and mechanical engineering contractor R.P. Richards.
After a few years of this work, Kim applied for a job as a draftsman in the County Assessor’s Office making drawings for the Appraisers and later applied and was promoted to junior property appraiser. This was work she truly enjoyed for the next eighteen years. She eventually became a crew leader earning the love and respect of her colleagues.
All through this time Kim kept producing art work including ceramics and photography. Over the years she exhibited in several venues around Santa Barbara. One of her favorite Art experiences was working on Christos’ Umbrellas Project in 1991.
Kim’s other great joy in life was travel. She traveled with friends to Europe several times. Especially her favorite city Paris. One of her favorite trips was to Costa Rica with her childhood friend Lynne. Other travels included China, Morocco, Mexico, Hawaii, NYC and as a member of the Toba Sister City Organization two memorable trips to Japan.
Kim was also a great lover of animals. From an early age be it hamsters to horses and all her various kitties all felt secure and loved and none could resist her charms.
Even in her last stay in the hospital, Kim and her best friend Diane Arnold were planning a new art work based on Kim’s theme of the last months of her life resulting in a bumper sticker with the slogan “Be Kind.”
Kim is survived by her mother Pat and sisters Kathy and Karen and large extended family. She is dearly missed by all her many friends in Santa Barbara and by Patrick Cook her partner and companion of these past forty years.
Her friends and family would like to thank Dr. Gregg Newman at Sansum Clinic and the staff at the Santa Barbara Cancer Center for their tireless effort to provide Kim with the best care possible in her four year fight with lung cancer. We also want to thank the Santa Barbara Visiting Nurses and Hospice Association and all the staff at Serenity House for the care and comfort they gave to Kimberly in her final days. We will always be grateful.
Donations in Kimberly’s name to Santa Barbara Cancer Center, Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care or ASPCA would have pleased her very much.
We are planning a memorial service for sometime in March. Contact Diane at izac13@aol.com.