On the evening of October 5, 2024, Daniel James Kitchen (A.K.A. "Tuffy Kitchwester") passed away peacefully at the tender age of 44. After transitioning to hospice care a few months prior, Dan ultimately lost his 4-year battle with metastatic colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, soulmate and caretaker Susie, his children Liam (14), Ava (11), and Poppy (20 months), his mother and step-father Theresa and Roger, his father and step-mother Jim and Julie, his siblings Molly, Pete, Sara, Chris, Jacob, and Jade, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Dan was a loyal and devoted family man, friend, coworker, and neighbor. He enjoyed working at CRL (formerly MPI), particularly with his supervisor Patty, who showed great empathy and understanding throughout the struggles with his illness. Some of Dan's proudest accomplishments in life include the births of his 3 beautiful children, meeting and marrying the love of his life Susie, creating their dream home together (complete with family swimming pool), and traveling to Costa Rica for their very belated honeymoon (thanks COVID and chemo).

Many words come to mind when attempting to describe Dan; he was optimistic, confident, hard-working, passionate, kind, outgoing, conscientious, handsome, stylish, athletic, silly - the list of superlatives goes on and on. He also had a wide variety of hobbies and interests, and threw himself enthusiastically into each of them. Anyone who saw Dan could tell he was a lover of tattoos, which he wore proudly over most of his body. He also loved the outdoors and planned family camping trips regularly. Dan was an avid golfer and motorcyclist, and found great joy in music - especially attending live shows. He was an excellent cook and an aficionado of grilling and smoking meats. He was a collector of watches, knives, lego sets, and vinyl records. Dan's most recent hobby was hunting, and he took pride in the fact that his one and only shot ever taken provided a deer for his family's freezer. His hope was to try his hand at bow hunting this season, but unfortunately he didn't make it.

Dan spent his last shreds of energy in the final days communicating love to his family in any way possible. But if he could impart one last piece of wisdom to those he cared about, it might be: "Live in the moment, and GO GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY!" An open-house style celebration of life will be held at his home on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Those interested in attending can reach out to Susie Dearwester via Facebook for details. The family requests that donations be made in Dan's honor to one of the following: directly to the family to facilitate the development of a memorial garden for Dan (in person or via Susie's Venmo ) or to the hospice facility that helped care for Dan during his last months of life Centrica Care Navigators .