Kelsey Rebecca Kittleson

Kittleson, Kelsey Rebecca AVERILL PARK Kelsey Rebecca Kittleson was born in Buffalo, on July 13, 2001, and passed away after her two year battle with brain cancer on July 8, 2017, at her home in Averill Park. Kelsey passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family. Kelsey accomplished so much in her young life. She was an athlete who loved soccer, lacrosse and tennis. She was an extremely talented musician playing both cello and piano, but it was singing where Kelsey truly shined. What made Kelsey an extraordinary young woman was her ability to seek out opportunities to help others and finding her own way to make a difference. In her life Kelsey collected items for the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society instead of having a 13th birthday party, created and chaired her own tutoring program at Algonquin Middle School to help fellow students, gave free piano lessons to a special young girl in her community, and most recently was a "13 Kids Who Care" award recipient which recognized her efforts to make bracelets both for fellow patients at the Melodies Center and to be sold to raise money for Melodies. Kelsey never wanted to be defined by cancer, nor receive much in the way of special treatment because of her disease. She was extremely courageous and handled the unimaginable journey with such grace. She was an incredible human being who was kind, thoughtful, funny, talented and loved. She was so loved. What she would want most is for her life to inspire people to do good things for others, no matter how small. It was what she was most passionate about. Her family will share her life and her story to help in the fight against this awful disease. Kelsey is survived by her incredibly proud parents, Rachael (Romano) and Kyle Kittleson; her sister, Avery Kittleson; her grandparents, Christine (Janczak) and the late Eric Kittleson, Sandra (Panzica) and Gerhardt Romano; her aunts and uncles, Rebecca (Romano) and Jeremy Besch, Kimberly (Kittleson) and James Diebel, and Eric Kittleson; cousins, Calvin and Fox Besch and Emma and Joseph Diebel; her great-grandmother, Frances Panzica; along with her loving great-aunts and uncles and other relatives. A visitation will be held on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Tebbutt & Frederick Memorial Home, 633 Central Ave., Albany, NY 12206. A celebration of life will be held on Thursday at 10 a.m. at Averill Park High School Auditorium, 146 Gettle Rd., Averill Park, NY 12018. As Thursday is Kelsey's 16th birthday, the family wishes to honor the same request she made for her 13th birthday, which is to bring a gift for the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. There will be a collection bin available on Thursday for anyone choosing to bring donations such as blankets, cat/dog food, cat litter, paper towels, peanut butter, dryer sheets. Memorial contributions may be made in Kelsey's name to the Melodies Center, c/o Albany Medical Center Foundation, 43 New Scotland Ave., MC-119, Albany, NY 12208. To express online condolences or to see the full list of items requested by the Humane Society, please visit sbfuneralhome.com.