Kristin Berles

She is survived by her husband Jim and her daughter Amelia. She is also survived by her mother, Joyce Andriot Watson, her brother, Michael Watson (Kristen), sister-in-law, Kathy (fiance, Jim Williams) Duisterhof, and her six nieces and nephew Page D., Maggie D., Erin W., Elly D., Jane W., and Drew W. She is also survived by her three aunts Toni Hester, Denise Breitweser (Jim), Jeanne Andriot and by Denise and Jim’s two kids, Sarah (Briggs Heaney) and Rachel. She is also survived by brother-in-law, Tom Duisterhof and close cousins Courtney and Bryan Blackburn and their two kids, Taylor and Ryan. She was preceded in death by her father, Steve Watson.

It would be easy to do an obituary for Kristin focused on her medical nine-lives (the lymphoma, the bone-marrow transplant, the broken neck, the skin cancer, the sepsis, and the recent breast cancer) and her strength in fighting through all that.

However, that was the side show. The main story of her life was her friends, her love of having fun, her contagious laugh, her stories, and her sharp wit (some would say snarky). Amelia describes her philosophy as “if you have a choice between two options, pick the one that is more fun.” Instead, here are nine snippets from a person who took advantage of the time she had.

One: Louisville, KY. This is where she grew up, making life-long friends at St. Martha and Sacred Heart Academy. She kept up appearances as a true Kentucky redneck by telling Alpena friends her tales of turtle hunting. In high school, she didn’t like barriers getting in the way of fun. When she was without a ride, she took her brother’s stick-shift car. Unfortunately, without knowing how to drive a stick, she stalled in a busy intersection, and a police officer accused her of stealing it. Without being 21, she had her brother buy her beer for the St. X-Trinity game. He wasn’t careful in hiding it, and she ended up getting grounded.

Two: Hanover College. She knew she had as much fun as you could in college. She had to maintain a 3.0 to keep her scholarship. She didn’t waste a minute doing extra work to keep up the GPA. She planned it perfectly, ending up with something like a 3.00001 GPA. And she went right up to the last hours. Instead of packing up her dorm room, she had fun with friends. Her exasperated family just left after seeing her messy and unpacked room on the last day. She later said, “I couldn’t pack, I just lay on the floor and cried.”

Three: Road Trips/Montana. Her post-college road trip was to Montana, where she lived for over a year. She and her friend vowed never to get a job requiring a uniform. In Kristin’s fashion, she laughed at herself because her delivery job at Pizza Hut required a uniform for both her and her car (the big logo on top)! Other notable road trips included an ill-advised trip to Florida in the ’64 Chevy Convertible that ended with the car breaking down and hitching a ride with some sketchy characters and their boat, a trip to the mountains in Mexico where getting dirty was confused with a tan, and a recent trip to rescue a car with a dead battery and expired plates in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.

Four: Alpena. She and Jim built their lives in Alpena. She was the treasurer of the swim club, led a big fundraising Relay for Life team, and taught at ACC. She enjoyed hosting large Derby Parties, meeting friends for coffee, lunch, dinner, or wine, and playing pickleball. During Covid, while stuck at home, Kristin and Amelia fostered litters of kittens for the Huron Humane Society, something which Kristin would always say was one of her favorite things that she had ever done.

Five: NEMSCA. Jim says that a little-known fact about Kristin was how much she loved her job at NEMSCA, an organization that helped the disadvantaged in northern Michigan. She was a budget director. She found the work deeply satisfying, knowing that her work helped them get the most out of every dollar. She also just really loved spreadsheets.

Six: Hawaii. She was lucky to take a sabbatical year in Hawaii with Jim and Amelia. She homeschooled Amelia– most of which was walking on the beach and looking for sea glass and washed-up creatures. She worried that her homeschooling was going to put Amelia behind. When they came back, Amelia was further ahead.

Seven: Surprises. Another little-known fact was that she loved surprises and the build-up. She wouldn’t let Jim or Amelia open birthday, or Christmas presents a day early. She liked to guess what the gift was and was a little too good at guessing. So, Jim and Amelia had to include marbles, extra-large boxes, and other things to keep her from guessing. And she liked nothing more than sneaking Amelia home from USAFA or having Amelia show up unexpectedly.

Eight: Amelia. Kristin and Amelia were best friends and talked every day. For the last two years, Kristin and Amelia did “girls’ trips” together over spring break, going to Hawaii last year and taking a cruise to the Bahamas this year. They shared the same sense of humor. Because of lymphoma, Kristin couldn’t have any other kids. She often said, “Since I could only have one kid, I’m glad she wasn’t a dud.” As Amelia was reflecting on her friendship with her mom, she said, “I’m glad my mom wasn’t a dud either.”

Nine: Bay View and Jim. Kristin and Jim spent summers as kids, dated, fell in love, were married, and ran the REC Club in Bay View. Like many Bay View kids, Kristin had only one requirement for career choices: she had to have her summers off. She eventually convinced Jim to switch careers so he could have summers off. After their honeymoon, Kristin was going to spend the summer in Grand Rapids with Jim while he worked. After the first day in Grand Rapids, Kristin said, “Yeah, this won’t work, I’m going to Bay View, you can come for the weekends.” This led to a career change for Jim, and they moved to Hancock, MI, for two wonderful years.

Jim and Amelia appreciate the love and support from everyone.

The family will have two services for Kristin. We will have a memorial service in Alpena on Thursday, June 5, at Grace Lutheran Church (119 W Dunbar St, Alpena, MI 49707) at noon, with gathering at the church starting at 10 a.m. with the Rev. Thomas Orth officiating. The memorial will be livestreamed as well. We will have a private burial ceremony in Memorial Gardens in Bay View, followed by an open house on Saturday, June 28. Cremation arrangements are being handled by the Bannan Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, if you are interested in donating in her honor, we ask you to consider NEMSCA (https://www.nemcsa.org/get-involved/donate.html), the American Cancer Society, or the Alpena Huron Humane Society (https://huronhumanesocietyinc.org/).