Remembering Kimmie's indomitable spirit, her wicked sense of humor and her unconditional acceptance! Her memory endures in the deepest parts of my heart!



Hello Kim... all of your Vermont friends from high school got together this past Sunday to celebrate your life and share memories. I hope you we able to look down on us as we celebrated your life and talked about how much we cherished you. It was a spectacular day. We all miss you, love you and wish you peaceful blessings. 

so enjoyed our memories of our dads @ Vermont Air National Guard @ our last hs runion...and before that you coming to visit me when i also was battleing this loathsome disease! Love you Kimmy


So many memories... I'm going to miss Kim and making new memories.  I met Kim Martell in Flagstaff in the late70's.  We were college students juggling classes, work, homework and fun!  We became friends and roommates.  There were Flagstaff shenanigans, trips to Rocky Point, and summer road trips.  I remember one to NJ, Boston, Burlington and back.  Kim was always up for fun and a road trip.  She graduated and became an energetic and fun teacher.

What fun we had in the late 80's in Tucson when we both relocated there. From the 90's Kim was Aunt Kim to my daughters and there for the milestones. She adored her pets, especially her well trained dogs.  Her infectious laugh will be missed by her many beloved friends.  Decades of friendship later it's tough to say goodbye. 

Steve Almgren has shown amazing love and support through this.  She also loved having her friends visit and keep in touch. 

I'm going to cherish my memory of our last road trip.  In May of 2019, just before her diagnosis, I was visiting at her house and she said,
I have to get out of town.  Let's take a road trip! 
 I said, Well...Maybe...Why not?  OK.  Let's do it!  So we took off, with Frida in the backseat and had a blast!  With no agenda, saw new and old places, toured the old neighborhood in Flag., talked to Hopi artists and watched Navajo dancers, had a beer at the Sultana on Route 66, visited Canyon de Chelly.  We took the Verde Valley train in Clarkdale. The beauty of Arizona and wildflowers in the desert can still take your breath away.  What a week.
Rolling down the highway, laughing our asses off, tunes playing, with the road ahead.  That's how I will remember you Kim.
Peace and Aloha my dear friend 




Am saddened to hear of Kim's passing! Kim Martell as she was known to me lived a few blocks away from my house. She was a couple of years younger than I, but we lived in a very vibrant neighborhood with tons of kids around of all ages as we grew up. The most enduring story I have of Kim is the reason that she became a resident of the Southwest and decided to stay in Arizona. I and she, on different tracks, decided we needed to leave Vermont's cold winters behind and head out West to go to School. She to Flaggstaff and me to Albuquerque,  as we were both accepted to College and were preparing to figure out how we would get out there on a shoe string budget; Kim's Father purchased a used car and we stuffed into it with two other compadres who wanted to "head out West".  With much excitement we left Kim's house early one morning and our plan was to take turns driving straight through with Kim dropping me off in Albuquerque and then proceeding to Flagstaff.  Her "used" car began to make rapping sounds as we approached Erie PA with the engine overheating by the side of the road. As we sat on the side of the road we of course decided to smoke "a bowl" and decide what to do which of course was Kim's favorite pasttime! Along came a lovely older couple and they pulled over and asked us if we needed help. We of course said yes and they arranged to have a local garage come and tow it. The mechanic said the engine had thrown a rod and there was evidence it had done this before. Kim phoned her Dad and he was furious with the dealership and somehow made arrangements to get the car repaired at the dealer's cost.  The couple let us stay at their house for days while the repairs were completed and we partied with the couple's Son who was about our age. Alas we did miss this lovely couple, but made it to our destinations.  About 15 years later my new Wife and I made it out from Vermont to Tucson to visit Kim and Greg and we have fond memories of that time together with Kim.   

Words escape me at the passing of Kim.  When we moved back to Tucson three and a half years ago, she welcomed us back with her infectious laughter and zest for life.  We were happy to have her back in our lives again after about 35 years.    We had some great times for the first year and a half…memories that we will always have.  She introduced us to Steve and some of his family…what a great bunch!  Then she was taken down, but she fought that disease with everything she had.  Now she is pain free and at peace.  Kim is missed.  

Lots of fun memories with Kim. She will be sorely missed.

It was always a wild ride with Kimmie! An adventure to be had and luckily we always survived. We met in college, NAU the college of Education. We both ended up teaching along the Colorado River sharing friends and fun. She had a zest for life, infectious laugh, and engaging smile.  She was a fighter and surrounded by loving friends with fond memories.   Thank you Steve for the comfort and loving care you gave her. 😘💞💕

For Kimberly Ann.  We met and got together March of ‘85. Married at S. Hero, Grand Island, Vt., where Kim’s people were from, July ‘86. We experienced and shared so much. What times we had. Went our separate paths early 2000.  Always remained good friends. Always in my heart, your memory will never fade for me. A Dios  my dear girl. 

The first time I met Kimmie was when Steve brought her to my parents’ home for a Holiday gathering.  I liked her immediately!
She was fun and entertaining, a “free spirit”!
I loved her beautiful smile and that contagious laugh  of her’s!  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Steve and Kimmie that often - only when I came to Tucson from California for the Holidays.  She was always so nice to me and I am glad for her fun memories.  Rest In Peace, Kimmie ❤️Karen


We shared many happy times together. We remember your laugh and beautiful smile. Rest in peace! 

Kim’s partner Steve has been a friend of mine since the 1980’s, so I met Kim soon after they got together.  Kim starting doing traffic counts for me occasionally. It’s kind of a silly job, sitting at an intersection and counting cars, so of course Kim enjoyed it. Through working together, Kim became more than my buddy’s girlfriend, she became a good friend of mine.
Kim believed, and she had me believing, that I had a special touch with animals.  One day when she knew I was working in Tucson she called me quite agitated “Can you get over here quick, there’s a big stray dog in the neighbor’s bushes and it won’t come out.  The police were over here and they can’t get it out!  It keeps growling and biting at them!  They were going to shoot it but I told them I know a guy that has a special touch with dogs, he’ll get it out.”  It was with some trepidation that I went over to see Kim and the dog, armed with my special touch (and a large beef jerky stick). Kim leads me over to this very large, very frightened Rottweiler. I got down on all fours and started talking sweetly to it with the jerky stick held out in front of me.  The dog immediately came out of the bushes and ate the jerky while I put my arms around it telling it “There’s a good boy”.  Kim came by with a leash and walked the now happy dog away while Kim told me “I knew you’d be able to do it!  You’re magic with dogs!”  Kim made me believe that I had something special that day.
In January of 2019 a vintage Ford Trimotor came to Tucson and Kim and I got to ride on it. The photo is of Kim, with her shock of blonde hair sitting in the Trimotor.  I know that Kim has been lifted up, perhaps on an angel with big corrugated metal wings, free at last from the pain of her last years, and will continue to inspire those of us that she touched to believe in the magic in ourselves.

Will miss you forever Kim, Beezum as we called you in high school. I know you were suffering so much. I've been thinking about you a lot. Will always remember you ❤ and treasure so many fun times together. Such a beautiful soul, generous person, great friend, and an infectious laugh full of life. May you rest in peace, continue to laugh and find my brother Doug and Chrisy up in heaven. Love you bunches! ❤ 


Kimberly Ann, you were one of a kind. My favorite memory is of you imitating the pose of my charcoal dancer! A close second is always referring to me as Cynthia Irene. Your laugh evoked immediate joy.  Your kindness was like no other. Your passion contagious.  Fly free, girl, no more sorrow, no more pain. See you on the other side. Love you. Peace out.

Kimmie became a special member of our family and brought such joy and fun to our family gatherings! She adored our dad and said that he reminded her of her dad! 

Kimmie lived with her diagnosis as well as possible, coping, setting achievable short term goals and drawing on support from those closest to her especially her devoted partner, Steve.

I wish her peace and a well deserved rest. 

I first met Kimmie when Steve brought her to a family dinner at our parents’ house years ago.  She had a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face, just like the beautiful photo that Steve chose for this Memorial of her.  What a great picture to get the essence of Kimmie!  She loved animals, especially Frida, whom she is holding.  Her laugh was contagious and so often heard, and she had a zest for life!  I will miss her❤️  Connie V.

Kim was one of the best friends anyone could ask for. We met at NAU in the 70’s and became lifelong friends. We shared much laughter and many tears. Rest in peace girlfriend!

OBITUARY

Kimberly Ann Toles

August 31, 1957 – August 3, 2021

Desert Rose Heather Cremation & Burial

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