Kristy D. Kaminski

KRISTY DEA KAMINSKI (September 23, 1958 – May 15, 2017)
On the afternoon of May the 15th, one day after being celebrated on Mother’s Day for the 32nd time, Kristy Dea Kaminski departed from this world to join her beloved, recently passed parents in heaven. She was 58 years old.
Kristy was born on September 23, 1958 in Duncan, Oklahoma to Dale and Lou Ann Tripp. Her father, affectionately called “Pop” by both of his children, worked in the insurance industry, and Lou Ann tended to Kristy and her younger brother, Steven Howard, at home. The family lived in Oklahoma City, Dallas and eventually settled down in the Kansas City area. They were a close-knit family, spending a great deal of time with grandparents and cousins in both Duncan, Oklahoma and the family farm in Nardin, Oklahoma. She gained a life-long best friend at this point in her cousin, Jo Lynn Tindle, as the two would become virtually inseparable. The farm would always be her favorite place on Earth, as it was always a place for her to find some peace in all of life’s chaos. Kristy had a particular kindred spirit in her grandma, Helene, in that both were creative minds possessing great skill in drawing and painting.
In Shawnee, Kansas, Kristy attended Hocker Grove for junior high and Shawnee Mission Northwest for high school. After graduating in 1976, she put her artistic skills to great use by working with flowers and found a job working for a florist, and it was a field she would work in for most of the next three decades. In this time she would sometimes live with her folks, and other times ventured out and had apartments with Jo Lynn and Steven.
At 27 years of age, Kristy found a new purpose for life as a mother, when she gave birth to her first child on November 24, 1985, a son she named Duncan Foster. A couple of years later, a suitor entered her life by the name of Patrick Allen Kaminski. She turned him down the first few times he asked for a date, but eventually said yes. His family was warm and accepting, taking in both Kristy and Duncan as their own. On August 3, 1991, Patrick made Kristy his bride. And the following winter, on February 17, 1992, they had a son, Jonathon Wesley. Pat worked as an auto mechanic and Kristy continued working as a florist. In 1993, her folks would move to the farm, giving the farm even more importance as in addition to being peaceful, it was where she could always go to spend time with her Mom and Pop, who remained her heroes for the rest of her life. She would decide to become a stay at home mother shortly after, especially once she became pregnant with a third child. The blessed surprise of Kristy and especially Patrick’s life arrived on June 22, 1996 when a little girl was born, Marianne Rose.
Kristy’s life was devoted to children from that point forward. As her three children grew, she worked some as a florist from home. But eventually, she was given a job assisting the pre-school at her church, Shawnee United Methodist, and fell in love with working with the children. Eventually becoming a full-time pre-school teacher, she was able to use her artistic skills once again as she designed creative and beautiful ways to help teach these young children. Unfortunately, her marriage was deteriorating, and Pat and Kristy separated in 2009 and were eventually divorced. But their respective love for their children never wavered. Now in her fifties, Kristy stayed focused on her children, even as a disease her mother had that affects the nerves in the arms and particularly the legs began to wreak havoc on her feet. Through all of the pain, she always made sure to be there for any friends or family who needed her warm spirit and infectious smile to lift them up, especially her children. Time spent in her household, or any of the Tripp or Kaminski households for that matter, were full of laughter, fun, quite a bit of playful sarcasm, and ultimately love. Even in a hospital room on one last Mother’s Day with her children, those same words held true.
Kristy was preceded in death by her parents, Dale Howard and Lou Ann Tripp.
She is survived by her brother, Steven Howard Tripp and his wife Gretchen of Brooksville, Florida; the father of her children, Patrick Allen Kaminski of Claycomo, Missouri; and three children: son Duncan Foster Kaminski of Overland Park, Kansas; son Jonathon Wesley Kaminski of Overland Park, Kansas; and daughter Marianne Rose Kaminski of Claycomo, Missouri.
A visitation will be held 10-11 AM, followed by a memorial service at 11 AM on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at Heartland Cremation, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd., Raytown, Missouri 64133