Kim Simon Walker
WALKER: Kim Simon Walker. Kim Simon Walker’s life started its journey on Dec. 27, 1954, and completed its cycle on Aug. 25, 2026. It was a full life. In her early years, although polio had been conquered in the mid-1950s, Kim was dealt a cruel blow when she contracted rheumatic fever. Although now rare, during the ’50s and into the ’60s, rheumatic fever was a feared childhood illness that often had dire consequences with lifelong effects. This led to a year of confinement at home, and of her missing school at Colfax Elementary School. She had weekly home visits by our local legendary family practitioner, Dr. David Flom, as well as by visiting teachers to keep her current on her lessons. It was a hard life for anyone, let alone a child, to face a year of isolation and confined to bedrest, but she was tough and she persevered, and overcame this early setback. As she moved on, finishing Colfax and then high school at Taylor Allderdice in 1972, Kim later enrolled at Penn State, attending the campus in Erie, Pennsylvania. It became clear as time went on that scholastics were not her primary interest and she left academic life and pursued a career as a dental hygienist at Northeastern University. In a word, Kim excelled. She was able to easily market her talents as a top-rated hygienist and had a wonderful several-year stint living and working in Boston, Massachusetts, with a close friend from high school as her roommate. Always, a lover of great food, they perfected their own spin on a New England boiled seashore dinner, featuring only the freshest fish and lobster. After she moved back to Pittsburgh, she explored a career in high-end retail clothes sales. This again was a perfect career choice for Kim, although her folks could not help but notice that Kim also used her time in retail to develop and refine her taste for only the most exquisite clothes and shoes … something she carried with her throughout her life. It was at Sak’s Fifth Avenue where she met the love of her life, Henry Walker, and this blossomed into a marriage, and they later relocated to Florida. While the marriage did not last many years, they remained close friends until Henry’s untimely passing. Kim’s abilities on the sales floor were unparalleled, and as time went on, and in different retail establishments, she succeeded repeatedly. Always a risk-taker, she left the world of high-end retail clothes, and opened her own business, selling advertising novelties and specialties over a wide swath of western Pennsylvania. Again, success! She bought a Chrysler convertible and was on the road for days at a time. As time went on, however, Kim’s physical health began to suffer as various musculoskeletal problems surfaced, that required more types of treatment. It was never clear if these were residual problems from her early bout with rheumatic fever. Notwithstanding, Kim turned a deaf ear to this array of physical challenges and took up and again excelled at figure skating … an incredibly rigorous activity. She was a frequent visitor to the Schenley Park ice rink and never lost the opportunity to ice skate whenever she could. Kim also was a longtime pet lover and had a series of very memorable housecats that also became her lifelong friends. She had a special talent for training the cats and giving them almost human characteristics. Lastly, until recently, Kim remained a sun worshiper and in summer, could always be found poolside, keeping company with her girlfriends from her high school days. She leaves her older brother, Michael (Carrol) and daughter Paula, and her younger sister, Erin (Bruce) and sons Samuel and William, and her two cats, Lulu and Izzy. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to Humane Animal Rescue, Animal Friends or Animal Advocates or the animal shelter of your choice. Services at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Avenue, Shadyside, on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at 12 noon. Visitation 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Interment private. Following the service, guests are invited to join the family for a luncheon at Butterjoint, 208 N. Craig Street, Oakland. schugar.com PJC
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