Kathleen A "Kathy" Lavoie

Kathleen Lavoie, Ph.D, passed away Monday, May 23, 2022 at the age of 72. This was unexpected and very sudden, happening in a matter of seconds. Her family was extremely fortunate to have been involved in her life and went on numerous wild adventures with her in pursuit of science.

Her mother, Betty Hoey, often used to say “Kathy had her nose stuck in a book until she was a teenager and then suddenly it was like she finally looked up, realized there was a world out there, and off she went.” Kathy was the eldest of 7 children and she could recite to you how her mother would call her and her siblings names off like a roll-a-dex to get their attention in EXACTLY the same tone Betty Hoey would take, stopping on the one currently misbehaving.

In undergrad, she met James Lavoie. The story goes that Jim was wearing polyester pants in Organic Chemistry, some acid spilled on him and he was unable to use his hands on the safety shower to try and save himself. Kathy sprinted from the back of the room while everyone watched in horror and saved him. They became friends after that. Eventually they parted ways as Jim pursued a military career while Kathy went on to get her Master’s degree in Microbiology and hiked the New York part of the Appalachian trail. Jim started thinking about settling down and wanted to meet up with that nice woman he used to date, Kathy. He got some leave time and went to Indiana to see her when out of nowhere some maniac on a motorcycle popped a wheelie and almost collided with him on his way to Kathy’s apartment. That maniac? Yup that was Kathy.

Jim was stationed in Italy and he thought only of Kathy. He sent her a badly recorded cassette tape with a marriage proposal and shipped it overseas. Kathy said she tried to listen to it by amplifying the acoustics under multiple blankets with the volume at full blast and she could not make out why Jim Lavoie wanted to see her soon in person. Well, whatever he did must have worked because she said yes.

They got married in late August, her in her combat boots and white wedding dress, him with his newly broken arm from hang gliding the day before his wedding and not wearing a cast so as not to ruin the wedding pictures. They held a reception in Betty Hoey’s backyard.

Eventually Jim and Kathy moved to Italy where their eldest son Jim was born. For her first delivery, Kathy had to give birth in a hospital where they didn’t speak English. Young Jim kept them on their toes and when they moved back to the US they wound up in Michigan where their son Rob and later their daughter Betty were born.

The Lavoies were your typical family, Kathy worked as a professor of Biology at the college and Jim worked for the local hospital as a registered nurse. Jimmy, Robby and Betty grew up in a home where they were loved and cared for.

Well maybe not typical; all three of the kids learned to crawl in caves, camp outdoors, and repel from cliffs. They would have cricket dissections at the dinner table, sometimes bats living in the fridge as they got rehabilitated and family phrases and code words that meant something to us but not to other people like “an engine fire” or a “brupee.”

Dr. Lavoie was world renowned as an expert on bats and cave crickets. She also was a pro at experimental design work and microbiology of caves. In 2004, she was featured on the National Geographic Channel’s program, “Living Dangerously: Amazing Caves,” where her research in a cave known as Cueva de Villa Luz near Tapijulapa, Mexico, was highlighted. Yes, she took the kids to that cave. Yes, there’s a hole in it called “Jim’s Surprise” from when Jim senior discovered the deepest water filled part of the cave by having some stone fall out from underneath him. Yes, there was sulphuric acid dripping from the ceiling and you had to wear a respirator there to not inhale lethal levels of Hydrogen Sulfide gas. It was an adventure and one the family was lucky to take part in.

Kathy led many research trips, often bringing one of her children and some students with her, mostly to Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, a site she had visited more than 40 times. Other research visits included but were not limited to caves in South America, Italy, Australia, Hawaii, the Galapagos, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Carlsbad Caverns and the Azores.

Kathy LOVED to teach. Her teaching was infectious and she was one of the best professors anyone could get the chance to learn from. Her Immunology course was superlative and her ability to “cut the crap” and advise students was a skill not often seen. Kathy was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities from SUNY and the Science Award, for outstanding dedication to the scientific study of caves. She would not only teach college courses but volunteered to teach smaller courses about bats or the Galapagos to elementary students. She probably lost count of how many times she volunteered to be a judge at science fairs.

Kathy shattered glass ceilings. If she put her mind to something, she was going to do it. Her daughter read to her the definition of retirement a few times to try and convince her that maybe there was a point now in her life to relax but nope, she was always off somewhere. Most of her children’s lives were playing “where in the world is Kathy Lavoie” All three of her kids have a story where they went to ask if she wanted to have lunch with them only to find out she was in a completely different country. In the last 15 years, she has been around the world, to New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland, New Mexico, Amsterdam, China, Galapagos, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Italy and Egypt (just to name a few).

Kathy’s contribution to science, especially in the field of Biospeleology, was enormous. She is responsible for over 30 publications in refereed journals, 10 book chapters, over 35 reports and non-reviewed articles, over 30 presentations since 1995, and a fellow for the National Speleological Society and Cave Research Foundation.

Kathy was intelligent, fair, talented, charming, thoughtful, beautiful, giving, loving, hilarious and so very caring. She had the best belly laugh in the business and had an ability to make you feel like you were the most important person in the world. Ripples from her teachings, philanthropy, and science will make waves for many years to come. She will be missed.

Kathy was interred at the Spirit Sanctuary and a memorial event will be held on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus within the Angell College Center Ballroom on June 11, 2022 from 2pm to 4pm EST. There will be displays celebrating her life and some key speakers to highlight her. A livestream will be hosted as well for those who cannot travel or attend. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to reach out to them about donations to charity in her memory.

As published in the Press Republican, she is survived by her husband, James E. Lavoie; her son James H. Lavoie, and his children with Damist Lavoie, Aeryn Lavoie and Molly Lavoie; her son Robert Lavoie and his wife Erin Lavoie, their child Seth Lavoie; and her daughter Elizabeth “Betty” Lavoie and her husband Steven Schmidt.