This is not your ordinary obituary, because my sister was not your ordinary person. Kim Marie Barry Dempsey, born October 11, 1970, in Newport News, Virginia to Beverly Getsi and Tom Barry, had the heart of an angel. Growing up with Kim as my older sister was like growing up with my own personal cheerleader. Not in a loud and boisterous way, because she was soft spoken and sweet. Kim was a cheerleader in the way that she always wanted everyone around her to be happy, feel good about themselves, and be aware of the qualities that made them unique. She always used to leave motivational sticky notes in random places to encourage me and give me confidence. Kim wanted to know how everyone else’s day was and rarely wanted to talk about herself. Her relentless positivity changed my life and touched every person she met. Kim was a free spirit. At age 5, her two older brothers had to pick her up at a gas station a few doors down from home, because she had walked buck naked to get some candy. In college, Kim went to France to be a model for an artist who was sculpting her into a work of art. She was already a work of art, beautiful inside and out. She was so cheerful and joyful, even through her long and tumultuous match with breast cancer. As doctors cried giving her bad news because they knew what a sweet soul my sister had, she would hand them a tissue and console them. A fiery red head devoted to those she loved, God included, Kim has left her mark on all of us. Those she left behind to keep her memory alive include her two fiercely loved sons Noah and Ben Meyerson; husband Scott Dempsey, mother-in-law Teresa Stafford, step children Hanna and Colton Dempsey all of Salem, Virginia; mother and father Bev and Mike Getsi of Salem, Virginia; brother and sister-in-law Rob and Karen Daniels, brother Steve Daniels, all of Williamsburg, Virginia; brother Michael C Getsi of Kannapolis, North Carolina; Totally Twisted Sister (Kim and Teresa’s nick names for each other) Teresa Getsi of Moorseville, North Carolina, and several loving nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and friends.
A celebration of life and a memorial mass will be held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 11AM, Saturday, December 7, 2019. Family and friends are welcome to join in celebration of my sweet sister and a beautiful soul, Kim Dempsey. A reception will immediately follow in the church fellowship hall. Inurnment will be at Sherwood Memorial Park Belvedere Mausoleum.