Kathleen Bartlett

1949 - 2024

Kathleen Bartlett
12/30/1949 - 07/11/2024
Kathleen Bartlett, a nurse and friend beloved to countless people in the Bay Area and beyond, died on July 11 in San Francisco. She was 74.
Kathy was full of zest, someone who reveled and invested in community-across languages, generations, and backgrounds-as though it were her job. In a way that endeared her to people in minutes and for decades, she paired a mordant sense of humor with unflagging compassion and interest in others. She was the confidante who'd bring buttered toast to a depressed friend every single day until the sadness lifted, enliven the birthday parties of people forty years younger, and knit a three-foot-tall monster, complete with backpack and scarf, for a grand-niece.
As nurse, she cared for Vietnamese refugees at Camp Pendleton and visited the homes of patients in the Tenderloin before starting a 27-year-career at the San Francisco VA Hospital. There, she was the charge nurse for the Infectious Disease Clinic through the harrowing early era of the HIV pandemic. This was followed by years managing infection control for the hospital, where her work spanned everything from sanitizing deadly prions from an operating room to tracking down syphilis cases. Colleagues remember her as a critical thinker who shared expertise with clarity, humor, and pragmatism.
Kathy is survived by her husband Peter Shypertt and by two siblings, Jean and Bob Bartlett. Peter and Kathy met as volunteers chopping vegetables and dishing out soup from 20-gallon pots at a homeless shelter. Both were legendary for the dinner parties they hosted, events that could last many hours and feel like a holiday unto themselves. They welcomed others into their home for far longer periods too, hosting exchange students and friends (and friends once or twice removed!) for weeks and months. They became like family to tenants.
Kathy will be missed by the neighbors whom she bound together, loved ones around the country and across the globe, and coworkers who've since become longstanding friends. She'll be missed in the Berkeley garden where without fail, she pulled weeds and cultivated flowers twice weekly for years. Most of all, she'll be missed by her family. She leaves behind a Kathy-shaped hole in the worlds of many. She also leaves behind a wealth of joyful memories.