Kim Marie Frawley

The indomitable Kim Marie Frawley, 57, died this past weekend in the care of her dedicated son and devoted granddaughter. Though many of her sagas remain unsung, her lauded life as a scholar, shepherd, veteran, vagabond, and at times pariah will be treasured by those fortunate enough to have journeyed at her side and lived to tell her tales.

Raised alongside her spirited siblings between Brooklyn and Goshen, NY, Kim eschewed a scholarship to West Point Military Academy to serve in the US Army and marry the love of her life, Talbot Frawley. An elite member of the military's Explosive Ordnance Disposal division at nineteen, she diffused bombs in West Germany during the close of The Cold War, spending her downtime fighting off wild boars in the wilderness of the Swiss Alps while pregnant with her only child. After returning home, she devoted herself to raising her son and committed to a career as a proverbial Jane-of-all-Trades, traveling the country as a carpenter, model, roofer, tour-manager for Russian acrobats, alleged bank robber (later exonerated), and substance abuse counselor, among other eclectic trades.

Though she found her work in HIV/AIDS advocacy to be her most fulfilling vocation, she never defined herself by professions, profits, or possessions, as her greatest passion was for people: Kim had an uncanny ability to harness her magnetic character to commune with others, and to make them feel seen, loved, and valued, especially when they couldn't see value in themselves. As effortlessly as breathing, she found genuine moments of joy every day of her life and fervently shared them with anyone she encountered.

Beyond the untimely deaths of her husband and many of her close friends, the innumerable injuries she suffered, and illnesses she conquered–ranging several different forms of cancer to being stabbed, burned, and run over by a drunk driver–each cruelty she endured merely crystalized her desire to bring comfort to others. Tirelessly striving to reduce the harms people visited upon themselves at her own expense, as her sister aptly put it, “she’d give you the shirt off her back if you didn’t mind that it had blood on it.”

Unfettered by envy or malice, at her worst, she gave the best of herself to everyone around her, caring more deeply for them than they ever could themselves, and while we rejoice to see her liberated from pain, we weep for a world left all the more empty without her. Though truly irreplaceable, her legacy safely rests in the hands of her loving brothers, sister, son, granddaughter, mother, expansive extended family, immense circle of close personal friends, and innumerable host of people whose lives she graced simply by being present.

Celebrations of her life will be held Friday, October 17, 2025, from 2-4:00PM and 6-8:00PM at Donovan Funeral Home in Goshen, New York. While the family welcomes flowers, donations may also be made to the Warwick Valley Humane Society.