By MADDY VITALE
There are some people in life who have touched the lives of so many others. Kim DeMarco was one of those people.
The married, Ocean City mother of four, who lost her battle with cancer at 49 on July 6, was remembered Monday night in a celebration that brought together hundreds of those who knew her and who loved her.
Gathering on the beach at First Street in the early evening, people honored her. Kim is survived by her husband of 24 years, Jamie DeMarco, son Kai, and daughters Keely, Shea, and Lola.
They came out because they were family. They came out because they worked with her for years at 7th Street Surf Shop in Ocean City. They came out because they knew her as a mom and their kids were friends with her children.
But most of all, they came out because Kim was a woman who made a difference in this world. And she did so in a quiet way. She did not need the spotlight. She did for others. She did for family, friends, co-workers and animals, especially animals who needed homes, mourners said.
She opened a business, Wild Phoenix Boutique on Eighth Street in Ocean City, in 2020. She knew she hadn’t much time. When she was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, she was told that she had three to five years to live, her husband said.
Kim opened the boutique for her daughters to run. She did it as a gift to them. She opened a second location just this year on the Boardwalk, again, for them to carry on her dream, Jamie DeMarco noted.
Live music played during what was a tribute and also a festive occasion to remember her.
There were stations set up with photo collages of Kim and her family. There was food. People gathered around one station many times during the night, to read a large framed letter written by Jamie DeMarco.
It was about his wife’s battle with cancer, her strength, their enduring love and what a wonderful mother she was, wife, friend and her positive impact on the community.
Surfers paddled out and made a circle in the chilly waters during a ceremonial goodbye to Kim, as crowds watched from the shore.
Kim, who was a manager at Seventh Street Surf Shop and helped run the surf lessons, held a special place in the hearts of many young groms and older surfers.
Children passed out flowers that attendees tossed into the water to say goodbye to Kim.
Throughout her cancer, Jamie said Kim did not complain.
“When she could not stand, she sat, when she could not sit, she lay, but she never complained,” he said in his letter.
The DeMarcos married in 1998, but they met in 1991 and there were together ever since.
“We lived an amazing love story,” Jamie wrote. “And we are blessed to have had her in our lives for 30 years. Kim told me that when you are in the company of butterflies, you will feel her presence. We lost Kim on July 6, 2022, and this was the worst day of my life. The day I lost my best friend, my beautiful wife, the best mother and my soul mate.”
He pointed out a note he hung on a photo collage station. It was from Kim when they first got together. She told him she loved him so much.
Jamie looked out over First Street beach. People kept coming. “Look at the hundreds of people here,” he said. “She was loved. She was loved.”
Her sister, Bonnie Groeber, of Massachusetts, watched as people continued to show up for the celebration of Kim’s all-too-short, but wonderful life.
“It is amazing,” Groeber said. “This is exactly what she asked for.”
She described her sister as beautiful, as many others who attended had. Kim had a beautiful smile.
“She was someone who could make the hardest things look easy,” she added.
When it came to motherhood, Kim would do anything for her children. Even if it meant making four different types of dinners just to make them happy, Groeber said with a smile.
“I think tonight is a tribute to how many people she influenced in her life,” she said.
Fighting back tears, Kim’s closest friend, Jen McCusker, of Ocean City, said that in her conversations with Kim, when the time was near, she said, “I want everyone to know how amazing you are.”
McCusker said Kim replied, “‘They will, through my kids.’”
Her kind spirit also translated to how she viewed animals.
“She always said adopt,” McCusker said, adding that the DeMarcos have dogs and cats.
Becky Friedel, co-owner of 7th Street Surf Shop, said Kim was not only an employee but a true, longtime friend.
“She was a beautiful person with an infectious smile. She could do anything, and she was great at multi-tasking,” Friedel said. “And she was a dear friend who will be missed.”
In an emotional part of the celebration of Kim’s life, people gathered in a circle to watch as Bonnie Groeber, and another loved one, opened decorative boxes that were filled with butterflies and set them free.
