Obituary

Our beloved, beautiful, and artistic daughter, sister, and “partner in adventure” chose to end her struggle with a serious mental illness on her own terms and within her control. Her choice mirrored her sense of justice, deep-rooted compassion, and anguish for those who suffer across the world. In an incredibly heartbreaking and devastating sequence of events, Katherine died by suicide on May 26, 2025. Her family regretfully is coming to terms with her choice while honoring her life. She is now at peace.

Katherine (“Kat”) Dunford was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan on a beautifully sunny, chilly and windy Saturday on the 23rd of March 2002. The sky was a brilliant blue, and clouds drifted effortlessly across the sky. Her birth was a gift of renewal, and having Katherine join our family completed us. She was our “little star”.

Kat lived in Michigan, Utah, and Washington. She loved living in Vancouver, WA as a teenager and relished hiking around the fern-covered riverways and mountains. At the time of her death, Kat resided in the Salt Lake City metro area and had recently moved in with her parents in South Jordan.

Surviving family members include her parents, John Cannon Dunford and Cindi Gail Dunford; her brother, Andrew John Dunford; her sister, Mckenzie Anne Soleil and brother-in-law Seth Soleil; and her nephew, Theodore (“Theo”) Soleil.

Katherine’s adventure-filled life was full of exploration, beauty, art, self-expression, political activism, kindness, love towards others, and protection of rights for all, with deep curiosity about life’s mysteries. She was passionate and active in defending rights of choice for people in many areas, including LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and human rights across the world.

She was an artist at heart and loved painting almost any subject material. She had recently started Tattoo School and was proud of her developing expertise in designing dragons, flowers, insects, and wolves. Her art reflected her innate intelligence, including impeccable color theory and a deep knowledge of human anatomy. She loved entering art fests and sharing her artistic talents with others.

Before her illness, her favorite activities included painting, guitar, thrifting, and eating out with her sister and mom on “Girl Dates.” She took ordinary items and re-made them into artistic, fashionable, and fun items. It made Kat’s night if she could convince, and often did, her mom and sister to join in on dinner dates at Indian restaurants. If not with her sister and mom, she could often be found hiking and exploring nature with friends.

Kat hid her illness better than we understood. She seemed to be managing her symptoms, recently planting a garden, planning a trip with her mom to Las Vegas to visit an art museum, and preparing to return to school. Katherine fought through every second of her mental illness until she had exhausted, in her mind, all options on how to relieve herself of her inner pain. Her absence breaks our hearts, and she will always be missed.

We miss you Kat!

We are especially grateful to the Randy and Heather Sudbury family for their grace and support for our daughter over the years; to Ashby Sudbury for his love, companionship, and patience with Kat; to our Dunford and Howick families who have shown incredible support during this time; to her employer, ARUP Laboratories for their guidance; and to the Tooele and South Jordan Police departments for their efficient search, rescue, and recovery efforts.