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Hello everyone. This is Nick with Kaffe Mercantile. Recently we lost a valued member of the Ogden community, Kim Harbath. If you knew Kim, you know what a loss this is and why so many are mourning with her family.
Kim was a nature enthusiast. She enjoyed her weekly "Nature Church" excursions every weekend and shared that love with everyone she knew through her and her husband, Paul's photography. She was most excited to share these experiences with her family and encouraged them to attend "church" with her regularly. Her Facebook feed was regularly flooded with exquisite photos accompanied by her famous greeting, "Good morning beautiful Utah."
Kim's volunteer endevours are almost endless. Alongside members of The UCC Church, Kim organized an annual community meal for any Ogden community members in need to attend. It proved to be a huge success and continued for a few years under Kim's direction, growing into a bi-annual event, before she turned the project over to direct her full attention to other benefits. As an advocate for senior citizens and WSU alum with her BIS in Gerontology and Women's Studies, Kim made an impact with various groups including Meals on Wheels, Davis Senior Services , Elder Advocacy, Utah Grand Families program, and Visiting Angels. She was also heavily involved with Kerri Kasem and the Kasem Cares Foundation. (https://www.kasemcares.org/kimharbath1)
Other engagements for Kim include; Community Engagement Center at WSU, Habitat for Humanity, Treehouse Museum, Home Depot, Davinci Academy, Ogden Preparatory Academy (where she ran the Jump Rope Club for 10 years), Ogden Youth Futures, and Ogden Outreach where again, Kim ensured that an underrepresented community in Ogden was fed and offered essential resources for life. Kim was also the 2014 recipient of the Indie Ogden Award for "Volunteer of the Year," nominated and voted on by Ogden community members.
Kim's latest passion and life's dedication was to her new grand baby, Sloan who was born with a list of challenges, including being deaf and blind (www.instagram.com/sloan_strength_) Upon the news of Sloan's challenges, Kim dove in, head first, and found a new advocacy. She stood, with her husband, Paul beside Sloan's crib for countless hours while mommy healed and rested or while daddy took a coffee run or a nap, or when mommy and daddy just needed to spend one night in their own bed. Kim's love for her "beautiful Utah" was not going to skip Sloan and Kim cried tears of joy when she was able to include Sloan for her first visit to Nature Church, medical equipment in tow and everything.
A Nature Church memorial for Kim is being planned and many have asked how they can donate to Kim's end of life expenses. The family has asked that donations be collected by community members to provide a bench in memorial of Kim, their wife, mother and grandmother, to serve as a permanent pew in Kim's beloved "Nature Church."
Kim started coming to Kaffe Mercantile in 2009. She would sit and discuss current events over a glass of iced tea. As we are sure you felt upon meeting Kim, you felt important, you felt purpose. You felt safe with Kim, and could open up to her. She never judged but would offer advice and wisdom. We felt the same and she became part of our Kaffe Mercantile family. More importantly, she became a personal friend to us and our families.
We were approached by Kim's daughters, Kari and Kassie and asked to help plan her memorial. We were immediately asked by community members, "how can we help, where can we donate?" When we mentioned this to Kari and Kassie, the idea of a memorial bench came up. A place where we can all visit to remember Kim, to question or ask advice, to escape, or just sit and take in the beauty around us. We are asking for help in this matter. We have been in contact with a few organizations and are hoping we can make this idea of a memorial bench for Kim a reality. We are certain many will donate to the cause and are certain we will raise more than the enough needed for a bench. The family would like to donate extra funds to one of Kim's favorite Ogden organizations in support of her beloved "Nature Church."
We thank you in advance for any help you can provide. We know this bench will serve as a place of solace and peace for not only the Harbath/Loftus family but an exceedingly large Ogdenite Family which Kim left behind.
Kim was a nature enthusiast. She enjoyed her weekly "Nature Church" excursions every weekend and shared that love with everyone she knew through her and her husband, Paul's photography. She was most excited to share these experiences with her family and encouraged them to attend "church" with her regularly. Her Facebook feed was regularly flooded with exquisite photos accompanied by her famous greeting, "Good morning beautiful Utah."
Kim's volunteer endevours are almost endless. Alongside members of The UCC Church, Kim organized an annual community meal for any Ogden community members in need to attend. It proved to be a huge success and continued for a few years under Kim's direction, growing into a bi-annual event, before she turned the project over to direct her full attention to other benefits. As an advocate for senior citizens and WSU alum with her BIS in Gerontology and Women's Studies, Kim made an impact with various groups including Meals on Wheels, Davis Senior Services , Elder Advocacy, Utah Grand Families program, and Visiting Angels. She was also heavily involved with Kerri Kasem and the Kasem Cares Foundation. (https://www.kasemcares.org/kimharbath1)
Other engagements for Kim include; Community Engagement Center at WSU, Habitat for Humanity, Treehouse Museum, Home Depot, Davinci Academy, Ogden Preparatory Academy (where she ran the Jump Rope Club for 10 years), Ogden Youth Futures, and Ogden Outreach where again, Kim ensured that an underrepresented community in Ogden was fed and offered essential resources for life. Kim was also the 2014 recipient of the Indie Ogden Award for "Volunteer of the Year," nominated and voted on by Ogden community members.
Kim's latest passion and life's dedication was to her new grand baby, Sloan who was born with a list of challenges, including being deaf and blind (www.instagram.com/sloan_strength_) Upon the news of Sloan's challenges, Kim dove in, head first, and found a new advocacy. She stood, with her husband, Paul beside Sloan's crib for countless hours while mommy healed and rested or while daddy took a coffee run or a nap, or when mommy and daddy just needed to spend one night in their own bed. Kim's love for her "beautiful Utah" was not going to skip Sloan and Kim cried tears of joy when she was able to include Sloan for her first visit to Nature Church, medical equipment in tow and everything.
A Nature Church memorial for Kim is being planned and many have asked how they can donate to Kim's end of life expenses. The family has asked that donations be collected by community members to provide a bench in memorial of Kim, their wife, mother and grandmother, to serve as a permanent pew in Kim's beloved "Nature Church."
Kim started coming to Kaffe Mercantile in 2009. She would sit and discuss current events over a glass of iced tea. As we are sure you felt upon meeting Kim, you felt important, you felt purpose. You felt safe with Kim, and could open up to her. She never judged but would offer advice and wisdom. We felt the same and she became part of our Kaffe Mercantile family. More importantly, she became a personal friend to us and our families.
We were approached by Kim's daughters, Kari and Kassie and asked to help plan her memorial. We were immediately asked by community members, "how can we help, where can we donate?" When we mentioned this to Kari and Kassie, the idea of a memorial bench came up. A place where we can all visit to remember Kim, to question or ask advice, to escape, or just sit and take in the beauty around us. We are asking for help in this matter. We have been in contact with a few organizations and are hoping we can make this idea of a memorial bench for Kim a reality. We are certain many will donate to the cause and are certain we will raise more than the enough needed for a bench. The family would like to donate extra funds to one of Kim's favorite Ogden organizations in support of her beloved "Nature Church."
We thank you in advance for any help you can provide. We know this bench will serve as a place of solace and peace for not only the Harbath/Loftus family but an exceedingly large Ogdenite Family which Kim left behind.