Kathleen (Bovi) West passed away peacefully on January 26, 2026, at Oak Park Place memory care facility in Burlington, WI. She was 82.

Kathi Bovi was born on January 23, 1944, in Rockford, Illinois, to Joseph Bovi and Eleanor (Carlson) Bovi. She attended Rockford West High School, graduating in 1962, and went on to Quincy College in Quincy, Illinois, where she studied Elementary Education. She knew Dennis West from high school, but they later married on November 28, 1964, at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rockford. They settled in a modest home on the near west side to start a family—two boys, Paul and Mark—with Dennis working in radio and television advertising.

While raising two children and keeping house, Kathi worked as a substitute teacher and started her own wallpapering business. In her spare time, she played Bridge and occasionally helped her parents with the family business, Bovi’s Tally-Ho, a bar that served lunch to west side factory workers.

After Dennis assumed a management role at WIFR-TV, Dennis and Kathi were able to travel together a bit for business and leisure. They especially enjoyed visiting San Francisco and Hawaii. Short stretches of summer were spent with family vacationing in nearby Williams Bay, WI, where they eventually built a small cottage. They relocated there after the kids left home, becoming permanent residents of Wisconsin.

In the Lake Geneva area, Dennis purchased a small regional bi-weekly newspaper, The Beacon, that he ran with family and a small staff for the next 25 years. Kathi performed the bookkeeping and sporadically contributed a quilting column to the paper.

An avid quilter, Kathi started the Scrappers Quilt Guild of Williams Bay in the 1990s, which is still active today. She also enjoyed gardening, taking a Master Gardener course to help nurture the many flowers on their acre of land. There were always housecats in their lives.

Kathi had a kind, upbeat nature and a boundless desire to place the needs of everyone before her own. We miss her terribly, but know she is at peace with Dennis who always made her laugh.

Preceded in death by her parents and husband.  Kathi is survived by her brother Tony (Providence, RI), her two sons Paul (Champaign, IL) and Mark (Elkhorn, WI), and grandsons Miles and Ethan (both of Madison, WI). There are no plans for a service at this time. In lieu of a memorial, monetary donations can be made to the Scrappers Quilt Guild of Williams Bay.

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Derrick Funeral Home of Lake Geneva is honored to be assisting the West Family.