Kami Ladd

Kami (Kathleen Margaret) Ladd September 22, 1981 March 9, 2013. Our family lost our brilliant, powerful, generous, and unforgettable daughter, sister, sister-in-law, and aunt. Kami was a shooting star - passing in the sky and through our lives so intensely and brilliantly before she could realize how amazing she was or how much she would be missed. None of us were ready for her to shoot past us and be gone from our lives forever, but we will never forget the impact she had. Kami lived a unique, difficult, and eventful life. She had a vocabulary of 110 words by eleven months. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1988, she spent most of her life battling this and wanting to be like everyone else with an intensity that wasn't always for the best. She was more incredible than most will ever know for all she survived and experienced, and wanted to be and accomplish. She received a magna cum laude Bachelor's Degree in Forensic Psychology from San Jose State University and recently worked as a paralegal. She was a talented legal researcher and writer and her writing successfully protected the rights of several criminal defense clients in Humboldt. She volunteered at a Rape Crisis Center in San Jose, working primarily with juveniles who had been victims of rape. She also volunteered at the Northern California Innocence Projects and had wanted to be a private investigator. She had a natural talent for anything artistic and at times, a wonderful sense of humor. Kami is survived by: her mother Eleanor Kraft; siblings Rudy, Terry and Maggie Kraft and Kathleen Bryson; brother-in-law Gary Bryson and sister-in-laws Theresa and Katy; nieces Baylia, Jazlyn, Rachel, Sarah, Gillian and Kaitlyn and nephew Jeffrey; and feline companion Domino Sandusky. We grieve the Kami we knew, and the Kami we all hoped she would become. Like that shooting star, she is gone too soon, too fast. She is preceded in death by her father Wayne Ladd, brother Paul Kraft, and very dear friend Nickee Shaw. Services will be held in the Bay Area on Sunday April 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Michaels at Shoreline, 2960 N. Shoreline, Mountain View, CA (650) 962-1014. As we grieve our loss, we encourage those who knew Kami to contemplate how much they will be missed by their own families should they die so young. Kami was an organ donor and would want to encourage people to sign up to be organ donors at www.donatelifecalifornia.org. Donations in her memory can be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, www.jdrf.org or a charity of your choice. Please sign the guestbook at www.times-standard.com and click on obits.