Kate True-Brit: Online Memorial Service

This post is open to everyone who wants to share their thoughts and memories of Kate White, also know as Kate True-Brit. Please be respectful and do not engage in any arguments. Please be as polite as you would at an actual memorial service.

Pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem
Pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem
Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem
Sempiternam
Sempiternam
Requiem

Merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus
Who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest, grant them rest
Merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus, merciful Jesus
Who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest, grant them rest
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God, Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest, grant them rest
everlasting
everlasting
Rest

The news of the unexpected death of Kate True-Brit has left me sad beyond tears and shocked beyond words. I keep waiting for someone to say "April Fools", but I know those words aren't coming. It's impossible for me to understand why a woman who was so kind to family, friends and strangers alike, who worked so hard to get back to a healthy life, was ripped away so suddenly.

It's fitting that I'm writing this on National Best Friend Day because if there was anyone who earned the title of "best friend" on OH, it would be Kate. Not everyone on OH today knows Kate, and that's a shame. For 9 years, Kate was a genuinely nice and honestly supportive voice in the often fractious atmosphere of OH. She was fiercely dedicated to helping everyone along their WLS journey, no matter which procedure they chose, in any way she could. A hand up in a time of difficulty, a shoulder to lean or or a gentle kick in the behind when one was needed - she'd be there, in her polite, always-British way.

A few years ago, I had the honor of meeting Kate in real life, and she was just as wonderful as online. To be honest, she was even more wonderful, because in one-on-one conversation, she had a funny, wicked side that rarely was displayed here.

(Meet and greet in Connecticut, several years ago. Kate is in the black shirt.)

Her loss is, obviously, felt now. But I feel bad for future members of OH, who will never have the chance to experience and enjoy Kate's compassion, support and friendship. And this site will not be the same without her.

Kate, I am eternally grateful for your friendship, your support and your love. I was extremely fortunate to have met you and honored to have been able to call you my friend, and I can only hope that I was a good a friend to you as you were to me. I'll miss you, I love you, and I hope to meet you again someday, somewhere. Travel safe.

I have to say after the initial shock of hearing Kate has left us extreme sadness has set in. I never had the pleasure of meeting Kate face to face but I did have the pleasure of her friendship on line. She was a genuine person who loved helping people and had a real passion for life. Kate will be truly missed by many. I will miss having her wisdom and support and just knowing I could count on her to return my late night messages when I was in need of a kick in the pants. Kate was a true friend. I will miss her. Healing Prayers for her family 

When I first saw the Topic "Kate is no longer with us"  I really thought it meant she wasn't going to be on OH.  So, I thought immediately...that won't last long...she will be back.

Then I clicked on it and read.  I was so shocked.  She was so full of life.  She took good care of herself.  She worked hard to keep herself at a healthy weight.  She was one of the few long time "bandsters"  so many of us come and go and don't stick around.  She was one to always give good advice, a shoulder to cry on or be brutally honest if need be.  She did not sugar coat her opinions but she wasn't mean or cruel.  She was someone I really respected. I am sad to see her go and she will be missed dearly.

My prayers to her family. 

When I saw the heading, I thought it meant she was off on vacation again, and I got all excited for her. Sigh. Well, maybe she's off on a totally new kind of adventure.

Kate, the True Brit, the True Friend,

In your time (too short) on this earth, you've been so kind and helpful (on both a bariatric and a personal level). You told me once that you're agnostic, but in my mind your diligent, pragmatic pay-it-forward fashion has surely landed you in a prime spot in heaven.

You invited me to visit you in Cornwall so many times, and doing that was fairly close to the top of my bucket list. The house is hundreds of years old, with only one loo, and I kept telling you that my bladder couldn't tolerate that situation. The last time we chatted, in mid-April, you told me, "By the way, we are having a second toilet put in so your excuse for not visiting is disappearing!" It hurts to reread that message now, but it made me smile at the time.

You were one of the OH members who helped me tremendously when I was new here. I will take good care of the memories and friendship you left with me.

Jean

I have known Kate for many years but recently we have become great friends and "cultural ambassadors" both here and on R&R.  I will miss our language comparisons (Kate was much posher than me lol) and the joy we took in extending our OH friends's vocabulary (usually in insults and cuss words)

She was truly an intelligent, kind and funny lady and OH and her friends here are poorer for her passing.

RIP Kate xxx

I am truly saddened and will miss Kate here on OH tremendously.  We were pretty much a decade in and you never stopped being my friend - banded, unbanded.

I am teary eyed, teary hearted.  I don't know why.  Real people in my life have passed and oh the pain but you kind of think in this virtual world everyone lives forever.  The feelings are real here, the relationships are real here.  You really were my friend for years here and I will miss you so much.

Thank you Kate and Bless us from above.

xoxo

I enjoyed Kate's sense and sensibilities, along with her dry British wit.  She was very kind and patient to people looking for answers, even though she must have answered the same questions several times during her years on OH.

My favorite story is that she used to have "Friends of OH" in her signature line, but was disenchanted with some of the people who also carried it.  So she decided to remove it and put instead something to the effect of "Used to be a Friend of OH, but prefer not to be not to be included with some of those who use this designation."   She recently added it back to her signature line.  

Kate truly was a friend to many of us on OH, and she was particularly loved in R&R 3.0.  We are heartbroken to lose her.  My heart goes out to her family and friends, and especially those of you who were lucky enough to meet her in person.  She will be missed, but never forgotten.

rock on, girl, where ever you are!

Thank you Bette for starting this, I have just been pretty overwhelmed with all this since the second I read her husband Mike's reply to my asking how she was when we missed her on R&R. To say I'm in shock is putting it mildly yet I half expected it after her last posts but like someone else said we expect virtual friends to last forever and I guess in one way they do because we can still read their posts and see their picture but it will never again be the same.

I feel so badly for her family and you who had actually met her and kept in close touch with her. I considered her a friend and we exchanged Christmas cards and barbs about our bands. She loved hers, I hated mine yet we were able to agree to disagree and stay good friends which is also a testament to her kindness and understanding. She truly cared about every newbie and every problem even if she had answered it a hundred times before. I could just see her straightening her stiff upper Brit lip and answering it for one hundred AND one times! She was one of a kind and will be sorely missed by more people that I can even imagine. She truly loved and cared about her friends and was always there for them.

I pray she just went to bed with dreams of her trip to Italy the next day on her mind a then drifted off. Love you Kate you'll not be forgotten!