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An alumna serving in the Peace Corps was found dead outside her home in the western African nation of Benin Thursday. ABC News is reporting that unnamed officials have declared her death a murder, but neither the Benin government nor the United States State Department have officially determined her cause of death.
Catherine “Kate” Puzey ’06, of Cumming, Ga., was teaching English in the rural village of Badjoude, approximately six hours north of the capital city of Cotonou, where a memorial service will be held Monday, according to ABC News.
“Kate’s life and work spoke volumes about the kind of dedication she had to her service as a volunteer, and the U.S. Peace Corps is greatly saddened by her loss,” Acting Peace Corps Director Jody K. Olsen said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to her family and loved ones at this time.”
Puzey had been working in Benin since July 2007. She was 24. Puzey studied sociology at the College of William and Mary.
“We are deeply saddened to hear this tragic news,” College spokesman Brian Whitson said in an e-mail to The Flat Hat. “Kate Puzey was one of us — a member of the William and Mary family who after graduation decided she wanted to help others, to make a difference in this world, so she volunteered with the Peace Corps and taught English to a small village in rural Africa. She was by all accounts a remarkable person and will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kate’s friends and family.”
There are over 100 Peace Corps volunteers currently working in Benin.
Check back with flathathnews.com for more on this developing story.
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6 Comments
It hits so close to
It hits so close to home…because not only is she a part of our family, but she graduated the year I came to WM. My heart is breaking, and I can only hope that her family is okay and so proud of her, as we are. She lost her life while making a true difference in the world, and may God bless her. So much love and respect. RIP.
I feel really sad even
I feel really sad even though I don’t know her personally. I know friends of hers who are volunteering in Albania and who, like Kate, are doing great things in this country. I feel about to cry… May she rest in peace!!!
Our hearts and prayers go
Our hearts and prayers go out to H.L and Lois Puzey over the loss of their daughter Kate. It’s sad news when a young life is snuffed out when helping people.
Our sincerest sympathies to
Our sincerest sympathies to the family of this wonderful young woman! Our daughter, age 24, is presently serving with the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso and shared the horrible news with us this morning. We are heartbroken for her family and friends. Please know her death was not in vain and her service and commitment to the people of Benin will be always remembered and cherished. Thank you for sharing your daughter with the world and again, our hearfelt condolences.
This is a sadness like non
This is a sadness like non other. You will be missed.
My daughter is lucky enough
My daughter is lucky enough to be serving with Kate in the Peace Corps. Kate was an amazing person and the College should be incredibly proud of her. The following is a tribute written over the weekend by another fellow Peace Corps Volunteer:
By now, you may have heard, thanks to an overeager press, that a volunteer here in Benin has died. (If you knew her, you’ll know her name. If you happened upon a news story, you’ll know the circumstances of her death. I’ll let the press do the reporting.)
That volunteer was our friend.
It seems odd that words came easily for an elegiac to our dog Hugo yet not for our friend. It’d be easy to say the same trite things everyone says – trite even to note how trite familiar expressions of grief, of mourning are. It’d be easy, too, to beatify her: we tend to do that when friends die.
The truth is, though, that all those trite things one says about a loved one are true and must be said. Our friend was the best. The person everyone could count on. Dedicated. Well-integrated. Smart. Caring. A fantastic hostess. “Momma bear.” Loving. Loved. A saint.
Peace Corps Volunteers can be a cynical, pessimistic bunch. We see and experience a lot of things that make us angry – righteously or not – or sad. But, anyone who got a hug from her was reminded why we’re here. She was the positive light at times when you were feeling down about Benin or Peace Corps or life generally. And, she was a blast to hang out with, even if it was just reading poetry from the Norton anthology at two in the morning.
One could write a thousand words and still they wouldn’t be enough or even apt. We can only hope that our small dedications – on blogs, on Facebook, in letters and cards sent to her family – will somehow help ease the loss we and everyone who loved her felt. And, we can only pray that her soul rests in that Love which was so evident in her.