Kathleen “Kathy” Gentile, 62, passed away in St. Luke’s Hospital on December 18, 2024, with her husband by her side. Born in Pt. Pleasant, NJ on Oct. 29, 1962, Kathy was the youngest child of Vincent and Helen Sidtis. Her elder sister, Donna Hirsch, has preceded her in death; she is survived by her brother, Anthony Sidtis.
Kathy spent her early years in Brick, NJ, where she attended St. Mary’s Academy and Brick High School, before completing her high school diploma at Jackson High School in 1980. While in school, Kathy participated in Basketball and developed a love of writing which she would eventually develop into multiple volunteer opportunities, as well as a future career.
Following an introduction to a friend of her father, Kathy met the man she would marry, Gerald “Gerry” Gentile, then serving active duty in the US Air Force. Kathy and Gerry were married on January 10, 1987, in Toms River, NJ. Shortly after, the pair would relocate to Niceville, FL, due to a posting at Eglin Air Force Base. They would remain there through the birth of their daughter, Kyla, until 1992, when they were transferred to Chanute Air Force Base. The small family would move several times over the next three years, finding themselves stationed at bases in Kansas and Mississippi, until finally coming to Idaho, where they remained until Gerry’s retirement in 2000. Having had enough of base politics and wanting a wider social network for their growing daughter, Kathy insisted that the family live in Boise, ID, rather than finding a home in Mountain Home itself.
While her identity as a military spouse was of incredible importance to Kathy, she was never interested in allowing her husband be the sole provider, and dedicated herself to finding full-time work wherever the family was stationed. From 1988 to 2000, Kathy worked in various administrative assistant and accounting clerk positions. In 1996 she earned a BA in Management and Organizational Leadership from George Fox University, and in 2000 she would use this degree, her work experience, and her passion for writing to transition into the field of technical writing. For the next 20 years, Kathy would work as an independent contractor for Qarbon, filling positions as a technical support manager, tech writer, program developer, and many others. During this time she also worked a second job in data collection for Clearwater Research, where she was affectionately known as “Gran-gran” due to the bowl of candy that followed her wherever she was working for the day. The final shift of her career came in 2018 when she resigned from both jobs and moved to Teleperformance, where she was quickly rose from technical support to a member of the training department until her retirement in June of 2024 due to declining health.
During these years Kathy also filled her time with various volunteering opportunities and hobbies. Before the birth of her daughter, Kathy often helped out in local theater departments as a part of the stage crew and an amateur actress, and during her time in Florida she was a writer and editor of the Vitroscope, a corporate newsletter. After moving to Idaho, she was a girl scout troop leader. In her free time, Kathy also had a passion for crafting, although she never did finish the crochet afghan she began in 2010.
In addition to her brother, Kathy is survived by her husband Gerry, her daughter Kyla, her son-in-law Justin, and her never-formally-adopted but equally-loved son Bobby.