Katarina Kendall

New London — Katarina Eva (Hellsund) Kendall, 58, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, at New London Rehabilitation and Care in Waterford after a brief battle with cancer. She was a resident of Westerly, R.I., at the time of her passing.

She was born on July 2, 1960, in Teaneck, N.J., the daughter of Maj-Britt Hellsund and the late Borje Hellsund.

Katarina was a gifted student who graduated from Connecticut College with a minor in art history and a major in Chinese. In addition to Chinese she spoke four other languages. She loved to travel and spent much of her free time after college traveling with her mother Maj-Britt.

She was an animal lover and advocate, and was especially fond of her golden retrievers and recently deceased standard poodle, Winston.

Katarina will always be remembered for her wonderful, often sarcastic, sense of humor.

She is survived by her mother, Maj-Britt and her companion John Pallof of New London, a brother, Per Hellsund and his wife Mary of Old Saybrook, and her beloved golden retriever Oliver.

Katarina was predeceased by her husband, David Kendall, her father, Borje Hellsund and her grandparents, Nils and Hildur Nilsson.

The Hellsund family would like to thank the staff at New London Rehabilitation and Care in Waterford for their care and compassion shown to Katarina during her illness.

A celebration of her life will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Lyman Allyn Museum, 625 Williams St., New London, CT.

Memorial contributions may be made to Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue, P.O. Box 808, Hudson, MA 017490808, 978-568-9700, or The Ehlers-Danlos Society, P.O. Box 87463, Montgomery Village, MD 20886

To send the family online condolences, please visit www. neilanfuneralhome.com.

The Thomas L. Neilan & Sons Funeral Home, 12 Ocean Ave., New London, is assisting the family with the arrangements.