2009.03.16: March 16, 2009: Headlines: COS - Benin: Fallen: Safety: Obituaries: Murder: Crime: My Fox Atlanta: Service Planned for
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2009.03.21: March 21, 2009: Headlines: COS - Benin: Fallen: Crime: Murder: Safety: MyFox Atlanta: Family and friends celebrate the life of Kate Puzey :
2009.03.16: March 16, 2009: Headlines: COS - Benin: Fallen: Safety: Obituaries: Murder: Crime: My Fox Atlanta: Service Planned for
Service Planned for
Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey
Lois and Harry Puzey said they taught Kate and her brother, David, a 28-year-old graduate student, to be "world citizens," instilling in them a love of travel and a desire to make the world a better place. "When people were defenseless or an underdog, she would stand up for them," Lois Puzey said of her daughter. Ultimately, her parents said, Kate Puzey's determination to stand up for what was right and to defend the defenseless may have led to her death. The Puzeys said authorities have two suspects but haven't told them many details about the investigation. They said their daughter was not raped or robbed and that they believe her death was not random or politically motivated. "We think that because she was standing up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves, she got herself in harm's way," Lois Puzey said. Neither the State Department nor the Peace Corps has commented on the cause of death, which will be determined by U.S. and local investigators. Puzey loved the Peace Corps and wouldn't have wanted what happened to her to prevent other people from joining it, her parents said. "Kate was an extraordinary person, who embodied the tenacious spirit of so many Peace Corps volunteers that we have met, people that are willing to not just talk about change, but actively take steps to make it happen," Harry Puzey said. The Puzeys last saw their daughter when she came home in June for her mother's 60th birthday before going to Mexico for her cousin Emilie's wedding. Her mother then went back with her to Africa for a few weeks. They last spoke to her on March 8, when she called them, as she did every Sunday, from a spot on her porch, the only place her cell phone worked. Emilie Jacobs-Finnegan, 31, spent her November birthday in Benin visiting her cousin for the second year in a row. Jacobs-Finnegan, who had lived in Mali with her husband, said she was struck by how truly integrated her cousin was -- Puzey's best friend in Benin was a local midwife and she ate her meals with villagers instead of isolating herself at home. Puzey had strong convictions and stood up for what she believed in, her cousin said. "She would decide something was right or wrong and just take action, but not in an abrasive way," Jacobs-Finnegan said. "She had a gentle spirit but a fiery one as well, and she just balanced it in the most graceful way."
Service Planned for
Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey
Service Planned for
Peace Corps Worker
Last Edited: Monday, 16 Mar 2009, 12:45 PM EDT
Created On: Monday, 16 Mar 2009, 9:33 AM EDT
CUMMING, Ga. - Family members of a Peace Corps worker from suburban Atlanta who was found dead in the west African nation of Benin said she lived to help people and was optimistic but not naive.
Catherine "Kate" Puzey, 24, of Cumming was found dead early Thursday outside her home in the village of Badjoude, and authorities suspect she was killed. She had been teaching English since July 2007 at a rural school in the village that is about six hours from the capital of Cotonou.
"She loved life and she loved people," said Puzey's mother, Lois, in a telephone interview Monday. "She was able to just reach out and touch each person in an individual way."
Kate Puzey was born in Germany, where her parents were U.S. Department of Defense teachers. When she was 7, the family moved to Okinawa, where she graduated at the top of her high school class. She went to the College of William and Mary and spent a year studying in France while there.
Lois and Harry Puzey said they taught Kate and her brother, David, a 28-year-old graduate student, to be "world citizens," instilling in them a love of travel and a desire to make the world a better place.
"When people were defenseless or an underdog, she would stand up for them," Lois Puzey said of her daughter. Ultimately, her parents said, Kate Puzey's determination to stand up for what was right and to defend the defenseless may have led to her death.
The Puzeys said authorities have two suspects but haven't told them many details about the investigation. They said their daughter was not raped or robbed and that they believe her death was not random or politically motivated.
"We think that because she was standing up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves, she got herself in harm's way," Lois Puzey said.
Neither the State Department nor the Peace Corps has commented on the cause of death, which will be determined by U.S. and local investigators.
Puzey loved the Peace Corps and wouldn't have wanted what happened to her to prevent other people from joining it, her parents said.
"Kate was an extraordinary person, who embodied the tenacious spirit of so many Peace Corps volunteers that we have met, people that are willing to not just talk about change, but actively take steps to make it happen," Harry Puzey said.
The Puzeys last saw their daughter when she came home in June for her mother's 60th birthday before going to Mexico for her cousin Emilie's wedding. Her mother then went back with her to Africa for a few weeks. They last spoke to her on March 8, when she called them, as she did every Sunday, from a spot on her porch, the only place her cell phone worked.
Emilie Jacobs-Finnegan, 31, spent her November birthday in Benin visiting her cousin for the second year in a row. Jacobs-Finnegan, who had lived in Mali with her husband, said she was struck by how truly integrated her cousin was -- Puzey's best friend in Benin was a local midwife and she ate her meals with villagers instead of isolating herself at home.
Puzey had strong convictions and stood up for what she believed in, her cousin said.
"She would decide something was right or wrong and just take action, but not in an abrasive way," Jacobs-Finnegan said. "She had a gentle spirit but a fiery one as well, and she just balanced it in the most graceful way."
Puzey would have finished her stint in the Peace Corps this summer and then planned a trip around Africa with some Peace Corps friends. Her parents said she planned to go to graduate school upon returning to the U.S. and was interested in working for a nonprofit organization.
"Certainly Kate was going to spend her life doing things like this, something that involved different cultures, service to people in need and travel," Jacobs-Finnegan said.
Puzey chronicled her time in Benin with blog entries and photos online.
The Puzeys said their daughter's body will be accompanied back to Georgia in the coming days by a Peace Corps official. A service is scheduled for noon Saturday in Alpharetta at The Sanctuary at Birmingham United Methodist Church.
The Kate Puzey Memorial Fund has been established to help causes Puzey believed in, her father said. Donations can be sent to: c/o Smith, Gambrell, and Russel, LLP, Suite 3100, 1230 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309-3592.
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Headlines: March, 2009; Peace Corps Benin; Directory of Benin RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Benin RPCVs; Fallen; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Murder; Crime
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| Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez. |
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