Katherine "Kit" Meigs Morales

Ever since she was 3 years old, Katherine (Meigs) Morales went by "Kit" to family and friends. If mom wrote a "K," she would write an "i" and "t." It was her chosen name. Only after moving to Arizona would she begin using her given name, "Katherine," in professional and academic settings.

She was a natural entrepreneur and animal-lover who raised rabbits for sale - and also sold "fertilizer" droppings to local gardeners - as a childhood business venture. Kit's knack for business inspired her involvement with DECA at Omaha Central High School (class of 1999) and several sales jobs at shopping mall clothing retailers from adolescence into early adulthood. She moved to Arizona for university studies, and to escape the cold of Nebraska winter. Here, she joined the Delta Gamma sorority and graduated from Arizona State University in 2004. After completing her studies, she developed her career in the field of corporate recruitment and staffing. After deciding to settle down in Phoenix, she also began keeping bengal cats.

Kit loved adventures. She traveled with family on countless childhood road trips (camping, fishing and hockey travel) throughout the American West, Alaska and Canada. She enjoyed partying, exploring and hiking as an adult: backpacking across Europe (England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), traveling through Asia (with forays through Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong), the occasional R&R trip to Mexico, Costa Rica, Caribbean islands and more - even running with the bulls in Spain!

None of these journeys, however, could compare with the adventure of motherhood; Sophia was born in 2017, and she instantly became the center of her mother's loving adoration. Kit enjoyed exploring the Sonoran desert trails throughout her adopted Arizona home, and she passed this love for hiking to her daughter and best hiking buddy, Sophia, who will carry her mother's legacy forward.

Kit is survived by her daughter, Sophia, mother Linda Meigs and brother Doug (Michele Fan, Faye-Marie and Finnegan) in Nebraska, brother Brandon (Kysa Meigs, Madeline, Lauren and Charlie) in Michigan, an extended family of Meigs and Sorensen cousins, nieces, nephews uncles and aunts across the United States (including Rachel Manwaring, Jessica Smith and Ashley Baldwin based in Arizona), ex-husband Nathan Morales and mother-in-law Debbie Wood. She was preceded in death by her brother Connor, father John, and grandparents Madeline (Bracken) Meigs, Robert Wesley Meigs, Pauline (Meyer) Sorensen and Francis Sorensen.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the GoFundMe page in support of Sophia's educational expenses: https://gofund.me/8dab6c4b