Dr. Kimberly L. Koss

Dr. Kimberly Lynn Koss, of Mason, OH, joined the Lord, September 30, 2016, after a long and heroic struggle with metastatic breast cancer. She is survived by her husband, William H. Ehrstine, daughter, Kara Lynn Ketterer, (Nathan), son Robert I. Ehrstine (Amber), her mother, Joan Nelson (Muncie, IN and Douglas Lake, MI), and six beloved grandchildren, Claire Cathryn Ketterer (8), Lillian Jade Ketterer (7), Falynn Malia Ketterer (5), Everett Michael Ketterer (2), Atticus George Macke (4), and Link Ingram Ehrstine (2). Other surviving relatives include a brother, Bradford W. Koss (Muncie, IN), sister, Laurel J. Nelson (Guido Bartolucci), a step-sister, Christy Kneese (Chuck), a step-brother, Hal Nelson (Linda), and beloved aunt & uncle, Lawrence and Carol Koss (Muncie, IN). She was preceded in death by two siblings, William L. Koss, and Kristen J. Koss, (both of Muncie, IN), father, Dr. K. William Koss, (Muncie, IN), step-father, Dr. Harold E. Nelson (Muncie, IN), sister-in-law, Gayle Ann Worman, (Dayton, OH), and uncle and aunt Richard and Cheryl Harshman (Frankfurt, IN), and many beloved cousins.

Kim was born in Muncie, IN, and graduated from Northside High School. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Biology and Pre-Medical Preparatory Sciences from Ball State University. During her upperclassman years at BSU, she was employed as a Research Associate in Medical Biochemistry, where she specialized in enzyme extraction and purification. She went on to receive a Ph.D. from the Wright State University School of Medicine (Dayton, OH) in Biomedical Sciences with a Medical Specialty Degree Designation in Cellular Metabolic Regulation, setting the stage for her future medical research career. Kim completed Post-Doctoral Medical Fellowship Studies at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine (SOM), specializing in Pharmacology, Biophysics, and Molecular Cardiology, studying under Dr. Evangelia Kranias, her mentor, and friend. Kim was employed by U.C. SOM in the Division of Cardiovascular Biology. She was the recipient of many awards from the University of Cincinnati, The Ohio Chapter of the American Heart Association, grants from the National Institutes of Health, and an Individual National Research Service Award from the Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. She was named one of the 20 most promising young investigators in the field of Heart Failure Research at the International Heart Failure Convention in 1995, Venice, Italy.

Kim was a Christian, and a biblical scholar. She was a 23-year member of King of Kings Lutheran Church in Mason and also attended Crossroads Community Church (Mason). Dr. Koss was a teacher and mentor for many students in the working toward careers in science and mathematics, founding an education and mentoring company, Excel Academic Services, Ltd. She was dedicated to fostering scientific careers and academic excellence for young women and her company won noted awards and mentored many students into careers in medicine and engineering. Kim was an active Rotarian and served the Northeast Cincinnati Rotary Club, where she was the Youth Development Coordinator for three years. She was the recipient of the Rotary “Service Above Self Award” for her community service and also received the Rotary Southwest Ohio District’s “Service Above Self Award” in 2016 for her work in Breast Cancer Research. She was named “A Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance and better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world” by Rotary International in 2015 for her Breast Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Research Foundation initiatives. She was honored in Cincinnati as a Finalist for A Thomas Jefferson Foundation Award for service to the United States in 2016 and was honored as “Cincinnati’s Hometown Hero” in 2014 by the Cris Collinsworth Proscan Foundation of Cincinnati for her breast cancer work, and, in Nov. 2015, she was awarded the “Mary Jo’s Angels Award” from the Mary Jo Cropper Foundation, Bethesda North Cancer Center, Cincinnati, OH, for her work in Breast Cancer Research.

Following diagnosis with an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer, known as “Triple Negative,” Kim turned her medical focus to breast cancer research. She founded the Kimberly Koss Breast Cancer Research Initiative Project at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, together with her long time research colleague, coauthor, and friend, Dr. Walter Keith Jones. Together, Drs. Jones and Koss formed the Koss National Triple Negative Breast Cancer Research Foundation, dedicated to medical breast cancer research and treatment development. The research initiative remains under the direction of Dr. Jones, in Chicago. Dr. Koss’s personal sacrifices, donation of her own tissue, and hard work during her illness, have been widely reported in local and national news venues.

Kim was known for her green thumb. She had a wondrous imagination, which provided hours of fantastic play time with her grandchildren. She loved her bird feeders, and spent hours bird watching. She also loved pets, and passed that quality on to her children. Kim was also fascinated with butterflies. She enjoyed helping her granddaughters, and honorary nieces collect Shopkins, and became an avid collector. She loved swimming, horseback riding, doing special craft projects (with lots of glitter and glue), and bicycling the Little Miami Trail.