Kimberly Thiessen

The world became a notably less vibrant and certainly less interesting place on March 20, 2026, with the passing of Kimberly Perkes Bellafato Thiessen. Born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1955, Kim eventually traded the Southern plains for the bustle of New York, where she grew up and graduated from Hendrick Hudson High School.

To know Kim was to encounter a woman who was entirely, unapologetically herself. She was the rare trifecta of bubbly, outgoing, and devastatingly honest. You never had to wonder where you stood with Kim, but you could always count on her to be ready to tell it like it is.

While she found peace in nature and the quiet art of horticulture, Kim’s true career was the tactical spoiling of her children and grandchildren. Nowhere was this more evident than in her kitchen. Kim was a passionate cook who viewed feeding her family as a high art form. She was the architect of a legendary red sauce, affectionately known by all simply as "Her Sauce" a recipe that served as the flavorful heartbeat of countless family gatherings.

Kimberly was preceded in death by her parents, Daniel and Norma Jean Perkes. Her legacy of love and laughter is carried on by those who spent their lives trying to keep up with her: her beloved brother Daniel Perkes, her former husband of 38 years, Ronald Bellafato; her spouse of recent years, James Thiessen; and her three children, Christopher, Matthew, and Kaitlyn Bellafato. Her "giving" nature lives on through her beloved grandchildren and the spouses of her children, all of whom she considered her own.

If one word could capture the whirlwind that was Kim, it would be Loving. Whether she was hand-picking a significant gift or simmering a pot of sauce for hours.

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