Kathy Archambeau Nelson

Obituary

Kathy Archambeau Nelson, age 74, of Redwood City, passed away  in November , 2024 in Demre, Turkey . Born in 1950, Kathy was known by those around her as a  cheerful, fun-loving person who brought warmth and laughter wherever she went.

Raised on a farm, Kathy learned the values of hard work and resilience from an early age. She developed a lasting appreciation for the rhythms of rural life, especially the care and raising of milk cows, a skill that shaped her character and perspective. Her upbringing instilled in her a deep respect for nature, animals, and the importance of teamwork.

Kathy graduated from University of Connecticut ,  where she  played basketball for the UConn Huskies.  She became a phys.ed. teacher , later receiving her Masters in education . She  planned and led overseas trips with her students during the Spring break and in the summer . She usually took groups of kids to London , as she loved that country .  She would buy tickets to stage plays like Lion King at Leicester Square , and attend with the kids , then go out to the London clubs , stay up very late , then be the first one up in the morning , scrambling the kids to see the  tourist sights in London . She especially enjoyed seeing the crown jewels at Tower of London .  After years as a teacher , she  became educated as a critical care nurse ,  studying at Mattatuck Community College and Central Connecticut State College, by adapting  her veterinary experience  to the care of human health.  She worked at Plymouth Hospital in New Hampshire, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Emergency Dept. in N.H., and Stanford University Hospital   in California.

Kathy led an active life  . She obtained  her Connecticut realtors license , while teaching at the high school in Meriden Conn.,  as well as  playing in many different volleyball leagues, both court and beach volleyball. She especially enjoyed attending large competitions on Virginia Beach , Virginia , during which she was out on the hot beach sand for over 8 hours  a day  , 3 days in a row. Her energy seemed endless. Eventually she  became a referee official in the United  States Volleyball Association.  She earned a reputation for fairness,  firmness ,  and accuracy in her officiating. 

In 1991 Kathy moved from New Hampshire to the  San Francisco Bay Area ,  Calif , where she married Charles in 1992 . She had visited California for the 1984 Olympics , and  harbored a desire  to explore  the state in more detail. 

After retiring from nursing in 2015 , Kathy began volunteering. 

Kathy’s courageous spirit led her to embrace new experiences with enthusiasm and optimism. Whether exploring the outdoors , playing sports, volunteering,  or spending time with loved ones, she approached life with joy and curiosity. Her thoughtful and compassionate nature touched the lives of family, friends, and acquaintances alike.

Kathy was a devoted wife to Charles, and together they built a  32 year marriage founded on mutual support and shared love of traveling. They took a 4 1/2  year trip around the world , visiting Europe and Asia during 2016 to 2020.  She worked at volunteer organizations such as Flying Doctors of Mercy, Operation Feed { Mexico}  and the animal clinic Tails of Mexico.  
Her gentle ways, ready smile, and warm caring  heart will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

As we remember Kathy, we celebrate a life well-lived, characterized by her high regard  for others, her continuous quest for knowledge, and her enduring spirit of generosity .
Kathy is survived by her mother Dorothy Archambeau ,  brother Steven Archambeau, both  of Little Falls NY,    sister Linda Masters of  Rehoboth MA,  and Kathy's  husband , Charles Nelson of Redwood City Ca.  

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Here are some  stories of Kathy's life   Kathy  was born during the Korean War,   Her Dad  , Louis , was a Marine , stationed  over in Korea when she was born . He was a military policeman and a tough guy but had  a warm heart.   Her Mom, Dorothy,   was the daughter of an accountant from Providence RI.   "The Dad"  looked handsome in his military uniform when he met  Dorothy , perhaps near the  Crescent Park carousel  in East Providence RI .  He was a farm boy from Michigan.   After the war , in which he earned the Purple Heart , Louis  returned to Rhode Island and took up dairy farming in North Providence .  Kathy was their first born child . Kathy  began a life filled with achievements.

On the farm she  worked hard at bailing hay , using a machine that made bales automatically in the field .  As a teen , she had to lift those bales onto a truck bed . They were heavy and this work was hard on her back . Later in life her back gave her trouble . She  worked very long hours and at night.  She lived her life with  seemingly unlimited energy. 

I met her on a bright sunny day at church in Providence RI , when I was 5, and she was  8 years old. She  was busy keeping track of her wandering baby brother and sister at the Roger Williams Baptist church .  She was very responsible for her age  , and seemed to be  a natural educator ,  She was teaching her siblings spelling and vocabulary. My father was a deacon at the Baptist church and became  friends with Kathy's parents .  Kathy's mother and my Mom  became  lifetime friends. Those two enabled my re connection with Kathy in San Francisco in 1990.

The Archambeau family would come to our home and play board games  and card games in the 1960s, and this way I got to know how lively , cheerful and fun-loving she and her sister  were.  She seemed to be always smiling.  One day I visited. their farm , and her Dad was milking a cow by hand in the barn . He squirted me in the face with an expert turn of an  udder.  I  can still remember that warm milk in my eye, and his mischievous smile as he continued milking into the bucket.  He knew how  to combine fun with work and Kathy picked that up from him. 

I lost track of her when my brother and I  entered  high school  , Luckily re connecting in 1990 .

In 2025  I spread some of her ashes from the Prudence ferry , off shore of the place where she farmed corn  in Bristol RI.   (North Farm ).

 Kathy saved my life. several times .  Once in the French Pyrenees mountains. , where the landscape looked like The Sound of Music , with high rolling meadows of grass, we were walking together.and decided to sit on a house sized pile of  boulders . This was a natural formation , a remnant of the ancient mountaintop..  In the distance  a herd of sheep  stood silently grazing.  As soon as we sat down ,  the herd started moving toward  us . Kathy said  in a worried tone, " the ram is running here !, we have to get away".  I hadn't a clue what  she meant . The sheep were a quarter mile away , tiny dots inching toward us  . As they approached , over a 5 minute period, I could see that one  leader , a small male  sheep. ,  was being followed by the entire flock.  and he was making a bee line to us on our rock pile.   .  He looked the same as the other 30 , but Kathy spoke urgently. " He's coming after us. Hide behind the rocks".  I tried to protest , muttering something about sheep not hurting anyone in a pasture , nobody's ever run away from a flock of sheep . They don't hurt you . I was very tiresome and stubborn  . Kathy ignored my protest and appeared  openly fearful as the ram reached the base of the rocks , still followed by his loyal ewes. Knowing that those  who ignore Kathy. , do so at their own risk, I followed Kathy's example ,  crouching and hiding from the rams gaze. He started to climb up toward us . He was only about 3 feet tall and looked quite shaggy and  harmless .   Following her,  I  jumped down the opposite side of the boulder pile. and took off down the grassy  slope at a run.  Luckily the hill  curved down  , and we got out of sight of the ram as he reached the higher spot where we had been .   Thanks to Kathy, we escaped  the ram's wrath.  It is still a mystery to me , whether the ram was going to injure us.  Kathy seemed sure he would have .  To this day I wonder how many other threats she saved me from.  

Another time in Bolivia , we went on a 4 day tour ,in 2 Land Rovers, with 4 other tourists , between high mountains. The goal of the expedition was to visit a remote lake in the Andes . We drove  all day and slept in an adobe brick barn , on a hay mattress , the first night . Not a very comfortable  accommodation.... but an experience.    The next day we drove another half day to a huge lake with thousands of pink flamingoes .  We slept in a sheet metal building that night  and the next,  beneath  a loosely attached  galvanized roof . The place  was quite loud due to the  howling wind and the banging metal roof.  The din lasted for hours  , but the wind stopped suddenly around 3 am. Our plan was to get up then , drive 3 hours over dirt roads  to another remote lake , and see the lake change color , from blue to green when the  high wind predictably  starts again at 8 am . Unfortunately the tour company truck driver had been drinking all night and was still very drunk at 3 am.   . He was staggering and yelling in the darkness , in Spanish ,  and climbed on top of the truck to taunt the 6 tourists . After  a while the other guides. talked him down off the truck ,  set him firmly  in the back seat , and  one of the tourists drove the truck the long way to the lake . We arrived on time , barely. The wind could be observed crossing the lake toward us. The lake was miles of   calm green  water  but where the wind was coming  , it made white caps , turning the water blue  as the front of the wind creeped across  towards the shore where we sat.  The altitude at this lake is very high , 14, 500 feet . Kathy saved me from a severe reaction to the sulfur from the geysers near the green lake . My throat started to swell and close off breathing . Kathy had a significant first aid kit that included Benadryl , which she administered in the nick of time on the Altiplano. My airway was almost blocked but  returned to normal  quickly . Kathy to the rescue,  saving lives.  The other tourists were also sick,  with Montezuma s revenge , and Kathy had her bag of medications with which she tended to them . I wondered if Kathy  was sick too , but she didn't reveal  any symptoms to me.   Was  she was the only healthy one on the trip, or was she hiding any sickness  she did have ?  I'll never know that answer but its doubtless that she habitially  chose to obscure her own pain and difficulties in order not to burden others .  





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