Megan Michelle Kinsella died Wednesday, Dec. 31 on a snowy mountainside after a very typical day in her life – a day that included exploration, adventure, and communicating with nature.
She was 24. Kinsella died in an ice-climbing accident near the Crystal Mountain ski resort. According to reports, Kinsella was with a 26-year-old male companion, James Susen, at the time of accident and he was injured, as well.
Kinsella was not only a brave mountain climber, but also a sister and daughter, student and teacher, friend, traveler and humanitarian.
Kinsella grew up in Redmond, graduated from Redmond High School and continued her studies at the University of Washington. She graduated with honors from the Comparative History of Ideas program, which gave her the space to be creative and intellectually curious while succeeding in her pre-Med classes.
Kinsella was inspired to pursue a career in medicine and to help the underserved when she worked with the migrant population both in Eastern Washington and the Skagit Valley.
Kinsella was a free spirit and traveled extensively, including study abroad trips to Italy and the former Yugoslavia, according to friends and family. While abroad, she interviewed Yugoslavian refugees, conversed fluently in Italian with locals, and mastered the nuances of Italian cooking. Megan saw the similar struggles faced by political refugees of the former Yugoslavia and Washington’s migrant communities. Her understanding of the human condition was global and drove her life’s goals.
In the last year, she trained as a wilderness EMT and backpacked the northern third of the Pacific Crest Trail. She prepared homemade vegetarian meals, choosing health and flavor over salt and ease. As a palliative care counselor, Megan refined her gift of listening thoughtfully and compassionately, especially to people struggling with terminal illness.
Throughout her life, Kinsella chose to embrace her family’s traditions, teaching herself recipes and crafts, building a sense of family community and learning to better understand herself and her service to others.
Kinsella’s presence will be missed by her communities at Redmond High School and the University of Washington, her contrada of Siena, Italy, her dear friends, kindred spirits and her family – her parents Kathi and Tom, her brother Ryan, and a large extended family.
A memorial service will be held at St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Redmond at noon Saturday, Jan. 10 to grieve together and celebrate her friendship. In honor of Kinsella’s vision and commitment to rural health issues, donations may be made to BECU “Megan Kinsella Memorial Fund.”
Friends are invited to get directions and share memories in the family’s online guest book at www.flintofts.com.
