Welcome
This new feature in your Sun newspaper will tell stories about people from South Jersey who’ve passed on after living lives worthy of our attention - and yours. Twice a month, The Good Life will go beyond the death notices to include remembrances from families, friends, co-workers and others close to the deceased. To capture the essence of each life, we will weave a profile that will be short on words, but long on memories.
Thanks for reading.
Britta “Bibi” Kotlikoff
History tells us that the vikings of Sweden had the quality of strength. Bjorn Ironside did. So did Erick the Victorious.
And so did Britta “Bibi” Kotlikoff. The Swedish immigrant was known to her family as “the fighting Viking.” She passed away on Jan. 26 at the age of 79.
“She was just strong in a lot of ways,” says her daughter, Annika. “She didn’t let any challenges in life bring her down.”
Bibi raised three daughters – for whom she made Halloween costumes by hand – in Cherry Hill. Before that, she “fell in love at first sight” with her future husband, Haddonfield attorney Lou Kotlikoff.
“Mom said she got weak in the knees when she first saw him,” Annika recounted of her father, who died in 2005.
It happened at a campus party when Lou was attending Rutgers Law School. But before that, Bibi had made her way from Sweden to South Jersey to work as an au pair.
She was all of 20.
Bibi’s family grew to include four grandchildren, a circle of friends she loved to entertain at a second home in Sarasota, Florida, and fellow volunteers at the American-Swedish Museum in Philadelphia.
“All her friends used to comment on how sweet and kind she was,” Annika said. “How beautiful she was inside and out. Easygoing and fun-loving.”
That’s why, notes Bibi’s obituary, “those she leaves behind will miss her tremendously.”
Sources: Legacy.com, Platt Memorial Chapel
Steven Lino Migiani
In the kitchens where he was chef, Steven Lino Migiani likely gave out orders to keep things moving on the line, where the actual cooking happens.
But when things did move at a clip, it was probably because the Marlton native could issue some of those orders in French, Greek, Italian or Spanish, four of the languages he learned enough of to better communicate with his co-workers and staff.
The following words in Chef Steve’s obituary are familiar in a restaurant, too: “His shift has ended. He clocked out peacefully on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 12.”
Steve was 75 when he passed, a veteran of several area restaurants – two of which he owned – and two casinos in Atlantic City: the Claridge and Bally’s. His daughter, Stefani Kirk, one of his two children, noted how he worked long hours, not uncommon in the food business..
“He was working when everyone else was off,” she said.
Memorable were the times her father took a break and walked her around the casinos as a youngster. But the high rollers had their demands – and they included perfection.
“Everything not only had to look beautiful,” Stefani noted, “but taste beautiful.”
Taste and beauty came together when Steven used marzipan – the sugar and almond confection – to make sweets for a president. As a young man, he qualified for a culinary internship in the kitchen of the White House, a “big thing,” his daughter says. But the opportunity fell through.
Years later, with Barack Obama as president and Chef Steve a much older man, he sent Obama a letter about that lost internship, not really expecting much, but – what the hell – taking a shot.
It isn’t likely the president received it, but Steve did get a response from someone on the president’s staff thanking him. For the beautiful marzipan candy.
Sources: Legacy.com, Bradley & Stow Funeral Home
Kimberly M. Smith
Kimberly M. Smith deserves notice for more than her untimely death at 36.
To hear family and friends tell it, she had a kind soul and always “lit up a room.” She was “one hell of a soccer player” and also played basketball with teams from Westville, West Deptford and Gloucester High School. And she was an avid Dallas Cowboys fan, as her obituary notes.
But Kim maintained her spirit during a lifetime of battling epilepsy and Addison’s disease. When she died last month, mourners were compelled to say just what she meant to them.
“After meeting Kim just one time, I knew she was special,” said one. “She was a beautiful soul with a beautiful smile and contagious warmth.”
“Her upbeat and positive attitude in spite of her health challenges was inspiring,” said a former next-door neighbor.
Kimberly called some people hon and was a devoted friend.
“Kim was fierce, genuine, loving and protective,” says Nicole Defino. “I will remember the good times with her. I will cherish everything about her; she never took our friendship for granted.”
“Kim was … loving, caring, full of life (and) so compassionate for everyone she knew and beyond,” wrote Cathy Mcclusky. “(Her) spirit was always glowing, always so loving.”
Kim Smith’s earthly glow might have gone with her, but it has likely taken up residence among the stars.
Sources: Legacy.com, Smith Funeral Home
