Kathy Archambeau Nelson

Obituary

Kathy Archambeau Nelson, age 74, of Redwood City, passed away  in November , 2024 in Demre, Turkey .  Born in  the 1950s ,  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 with a teaching credential in physical education, having  played basketball   for the  UConn Huskies .   She later received  her Masters degree  in Education   studying in European universities  . As a teacher in Connecticut,  she   planned and led overseas trips with her students during the Spring break and  the summer . She usually took groups  to London .  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 , staying up very late , then be the first one up in the morning , rousing the kids to see the  tourist sights . She especially enjoyed seeing the crown jewels at the 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 animal care  experience  to the care of human health.  She worked at Plymouth Hospital in New Hampshire  and at  Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Emergency Dept. also  in N.H.

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 positive  energy seemed endless. Eventually she  became an official  national  referee  in the United  States Volleyball Association.  She earned a reputation for fairness,  firmness ,  and accuracy in her officiating, and travelled  around  the  U.S. in that  capacity .

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 .  She  got a job as a  night shift ICU nurse  Stanford University Hospital in California, and later  moved to the  Patient   Recovery  section.  

After retiring from nursing in 2015 , Kathy increased her  volunteering.  She became a recovery room nurse at Flying Doctors of Mercy , ( LIGA  INTERNATIONAL)   in Sinaloa State   Mexico. 

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  residing in  Little Falls NY,    sister Linda Masters of  Rehoboth MA,  and Kathy's  husband , Charles Nelson of Redwood City Ca.  

Tales

Here are some  stories of Kathy's life   Kathy  was born during the Korean War,   Her Dad  , Louis , was a Marine , stationed   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 Korean war , in which he earned the Purple Heart , Louis  returned to Rhode Island and took up dairy farming in North Providence  RI .  Kathy was their first born child . Kathy  began a life filled with achievements.

On the farm she  worked hard ,  bailing hay , using a machine that made the bales automatically in the field .  As a teen , she had to lift those bales onto a truck bed . They were heavy and this work hurt  her back . Later in life that back gave her trouble . She  worked very long hours and at night. Still ,  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 his hand on a  cow  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 we  re connected in 1990 .

Kathy saved my life. several times .  Once in the  rolling  meadows  of the  French Pyrenees mountains, 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 two Land Rovers, with four 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 very  high  winds  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 three 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 six 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  half the waters  surface   was  rough , showing  the wind was coming  , 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  14, 500 feet . Later  that same day ,  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 my breathing . Kathy had a significant first aid kit that included Benadryl , which she administered  to me  in the nick of time. My airway was almost blocked but  returned to normal  quickly after  taking  her pill . Kathy to the rescue,  again    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.   Was  she was the only healthy one on the trip, or was she hiding  sickness ?  I'll never know that but it's doubtless that she habitually  chose to obscure her own pain and difficulties in order not to burden others .  

She  saved many  lives  as a nurse .  I'll tell a few  of her  nursing  stories    If  any  of you nurses   know   heroic tales of  Kathy    please  post   here ( if you can )    or  send  your story  to me  at jaggie3  at hot mail com.

One  story she did  relay to me was in 1999, she was   taking care  of a patient at Stanford  who'd  had  a pulmonary embolism. Kathy  looked me in the eye and said very  seriously " Charlie I love  you , please never  get a pulmonary  embolism . it has been so hard   to keep  my patient  alive  this   week " 

 . There's  another story .  When  Kathy  sert her mind to something , she always  accomplished it. For instance,  she wanted  to get off the farm and have an  independent life of  freedom and economic  self  determination.  She knew  that only   a college  education   would provide  such a life .
At  age  13  she asked  her  Dad   for    space  on their  rented  farm ,  to  grow sweet  corn and make some   money  that  would belong to Kathy .  He agreed and pointed out a plot   of land for  her garden .  She  carefully planned  what  types  of  corn to plant,   and when to plant  each , so that she would have a constant  supply of  fresh  corn to sell  along the roadside  in Bristol Rhode Island , during  July  August  and September .  Her side  business  was  very  successful and  Kathy  saved   every penny .  From each dozen  ears  of    corn sold,  Kathy  earned   one  dollar  . It was the 1960s .   One buck bought a  dozen ears . 
Our  family  of Nelsons bought corn from her from her on weekends .  These  was the only times that I saw her in the late 60s.  Kathy  could be  found  standing by the roadside .    Whenever  we went to  the  beach   at Newport RI. , we    contributed a  dollar   to her  education fund  without knowing it, by  buying Kathy's freshly picked butter and sugar sweet corn. 


Later   she used that  money to  go to  University of Connecticut .   College   was only  her first large  undertaking ,. She reached  many more  goals   during her life.  
Kathy was  proud to have worked 23 years at Stanford Univ.   Hospital . The current uniform that is worn now  in ICU unit E2 and other units, is a grey  scrub top   with crimson lettering . The color scheme was proposed by Kathy, and was later approved by a nurse referendum. It gave her a good feeling to know that her work as a volunteer , working on the new uniform designs for Stanford , came to fruition giving   the  nurses a  sharp  professional look. 
Intrepid adventuress  ,  loving  wife, best friend ,  loyal daughter  to her parents  ,   a caregiver  to  the  stranger.
Kathy!  
we had a  love  like a water  well  in the woods , seeping out each day and never  running dry. 

here's a poem for our love ...

 a dripping  spring  lies 

in a deep  crevice of the  earth,  hidden beneath 

lofting canopies  and dense musty   layers  of  fallen  leaves .

lost in a forest of

big leaf maple , fern and mushroom cap, the spring surges .

the long rivulet peeks out  , having been sequestered  for ages in 

an underground labyrinth  of  twisting veins . 

no one fathoms its  former serpentine  courses.

at last  it emerges , suddenly and with purpose .

this journey of  water , 

inside to outside

it has lately  dripped onto   the exterior .

touching sweet air ,

having  patiently   traversed  the inner recesses

  of our floating  planet  where  the only  sound is 

quaking echoes.

  it's time  for emergence and to be  

feeding the roots of the forest , 

sipped by  the browsing wild  animals,

and to evaporate , entering again ,

the sky  from which it  came  long ago.

it blinks in the  dim light , having known eons of  darkness .

this stream  takes  its sparkling  new existence in due  course. 

  doesn't miss the  darkness  and has forgotten it .

 a  trek with an initial 

dimly lit segment. 

 unobserved and   known  only to

the newt and salamander 

the trickling  saturates the silence 

eventually  building    to a roar .

 like  Kathy's love  .

thank you for reading.
Charlie  












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