Kristine Okins

The PortlandTribune has a collection of obituaries for the four cyclist killed in Portland in 2005. I hope you'll read all of them, but I've copied Kristine's below.

Spaceman wrote up this obituary for Kristine's hometown paper:

Kristine Ann Okins, 25, a former resident of Windom, was killed in a bicycle/vehicle accident while at work in her chosen home of Portland, Oregon.

Her job as a bicycle messenger reflected her love of cycling, a passion that was part of many others. These included but are hardly limited to Tall Ship Sailing, Traveling, and All Creatures great and small.

Kristine attended the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, MN where she graduated with honors in 1998; she then attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and graduated in 2002. These accomplishments serve to underscore the dedication and hard work she expressed daily.

A master of many talents, Kristine impressed all with her skills in baking, sewing, knitting, and graphic design. She was never shy about sharing these natural gifts.

A memorial mass bicycle ride in her honor along Portland's Willamette River allowed many to commemorate and celebrate her rich and wonderful life.

She lives on in the hearts and minds of all she touched. Kristine, you are our Red Skies at Night.

She is survived by her parents Jim & Mary of Windom, her sister Melissa and brother-in-law Michael Lefevre of Portland; her sister Angela of Portland; her brother Matthew Okins and Kelsey Rients of Mankato; her boyfriend William Bleichner of Portland; grandmother Loretta Anderson of Lamberton; grandmother Margaret Okins of Redwood Falls; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

There's going to be a memorial ride for Kristine tonight. People are meetin up at Berbati's from 17:00-17:30. I'm told it'll be a pretty short ride.

I ended up talking to someone from KGW about Kristine. They'll be airing a story on her tonight at 6pm. They'd seen the photos and contacted me to find someone who'd speak with them. I wish I could have found someone who knew her better. It was a pretty short deadline and couldn't find anyone who knew her and really wanted to talk to them so I stepped up. If anyone can tape it I'm interested in seeing how it turned out.

Update: photos are on Flickr:

I still don't really believe it happened. I keep finding myself speaking in cliches. After reading through the comments on the memorial page I realize how little I knew about her, all the people she's known, her friends, family. It's such a horrible way to find out. I miss her, but I wasn't her boyfriend, I wasn't her sister, and I wasn't her father. Her death leaves a gaping hole in so many lives.

I won't presume, but, I believe that she'd rather that we focus on the positive. To appreciate all the wonderful times we spent with her. Towards that end I've been gathering together the photos I've taken in the year plus that I knew her. It's been frustrating because she was almost impossible to take a picture of. You'd point the camera at her and she would continually make the strangest faces, close her eyes, anything but let you try and take a proper photo. I can't tell you how many photos I deleted. I'm so sad to see her go.

From Billy Spaceman
My darlin' dearest Kristine Okins was killed in a bike accident on Monday. She was a Portland bike messenger at work. If you knew her you knew she was a real adorable badass, and also the sweetest most gentle and sincere girl that was ever made. I miss her terribly and I'm glad she left us with the strength and dignity she deserved. A website has been created in her memory, www.for-kris.com.
Any words for her or us would be greatly appreciated at this site. We all love her very much and you can bet she loved us back. -Billy