Kathleen M. Conti

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Kathleen M. Conti, 59, of Rosebank, a human resources executive and specialist who will be remembered for her upbeat and bubbly personality, died Saturday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

A lifelong Staten Islander, she was born Kathleen M. Nichols in Rosebank, she lived there most of her life, except for a brief period in Willowbrook.

Mrs. Conti was a graduate of St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School and earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from the College of Staten Island, Willowbrook.

She had a 31-year career at American Express, and held several positions there, including vice president of human resources. She then formed HR Innovations, a consulting firm in Rosebank. She retired in 2009.

Mrs. Conti was a volunteer at the Staten Island Society for the Blind.

She enjoyed gardening, working out and the companionship of her pet dog, Kelly.

She loved to spend time with family and friends and was a loving aunt to her many nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephew.

Mrs. Conti was a parishioner of St. Joseph's R.C. Church, Rosebank.

Her husband of 32 years, Joseph, died in 2010.

Surviving are her mother, Catherine Nichols; her brothers, James J., Robert G., and Stephen A. Nichols, and her sisters, Mary E. Hand and Patricia A. Rankin.

The funeral will be Wednesday from the Virginia Funeral Chapel, Dongan Hills, with a mass at 10 a.m. in St. Mary's R.C. Church, Rosebank. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.