Kristen Judith Cassell

Kristen (Kiki) was gentle, contemplative, and kind; an old soul. The middle child of 5, she was quiet and wide-eyed. Smaller than the rest because we ate faster than she. Though she lived in and visited lots of places in the world, she found and married her soul-mate Joel in San Francisco, then moved back to Philly to be near her family and have their own. They bought a cozy home where they had 2 kids who are both growing into amazing people. A fierce protector of her family, she loved being a mom.

Kristen worked at Church & Dwight nearly from the time she arrived in the area, and stayed until she couldn’t anymore. She was so sad to leave. She still spoke as though she was part of the team long after she left.

Diagnosed with AML in March 2017, she insisted she was going to fight it. And fight she did, beating the odds at least for a while. She accepted each new diagnosis with courage, grace, and determination. She was a medical marvel, amazing her oncology team with a chart so big one person asked, “what haven’t you had?” Then, finally, the cancer came for her whole body and it won on May 13, 2023. Now she is free from pain. She joins her mom, dad, and brother, all of whom she said she looked forward to hugging.

A Celebration of life will be held for her at a later date. We look forward to celebrating the amazing, unique, and wonderful person she was with her friends and family who all miss her terribly and can’t quite believe she’s really gone.

In lieu flowers, please give generously “In Memory” to The Abramson Cancer Center, https://www.pennmedicine.org/cancer/giving, or The Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, http://www.afcri.upenn.edu/. Both are part of Penn Medicine.