NOV 22, 2019
‘Not only was she loved, but she loved everyone else:’ Remembering Kelsey Berreth 1 year after her death
Even amid a tragedy that leaves behind more questions than answers, one thing is abundantly clear: Kelsey Berreth was loved by everyone who knew her.
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She died one year ago Friday, on Nov. 22, 2018. We won't talk about the circumstances surrounding her death here -- those details have already been widely reported. Instead, we'll share some of the kind things the people who knew and loved her have said in recent weeks.
"Not only was she loved, but she loved everyone else," her uncle Scott Morin said.
Kelsey Berreth worked as a flight instructor for a company that trained future Air Force pilots. An arduous job to begin with, the 29-year-old excelled in the position even as she commuted two hours round trip to work as a new mom.
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Dollar bills signed by students were hung at Berreth's desk near photos of her baby daughter and a calendar of Bible quotes. The last one she opened — dated Nov. 21, 2018 — was Philippians 2:13.
Berreth was adored by the students she spent hours conducting training exercises in a tight cockpit.
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“It was probably a little bit difficult as a single mom to balance the work-life thing, I can’t imagine how she did it,” CS said. “I live 10 minutes from work and she lived over an hour. It’s a fairly stressful job to begin with and what a woman of strength to be able to do that. I don’t know if I could.”
More than anything though, Kelsey Berreth was a mother.
“[Her daughter] is … Kelsey’s life,” Cheryl Berreth said. “Her world revolved around [her daughter]. She was a great mom.”
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Outside of coffee, Cheryl Berreth said her daughter needed three pretty basic things to be happy.
“She needed a good night sleep, she needed to spend her time with God and she needed to go running,” Cheryl Berreth said.
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“[The killer] took a shining light from this Earth, and we’ve heard over and over again from everybody who knew her,” said Jennifer Viehman, a senior deputy district attorney.
"She mattered," Viehman added. "Kelsey mattered."
