Obituary
Kristine Ledyard Arges passed away peacefully at her home in Durham, NC after a multi-year battle with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). Kris’ parents gave her the Chinese middle name of Ming, which translates to ‘brightness’, and she is remembered among her family and friends for the bright light she brought to all her endeavors. Kris had a true gusto for life, and there was no limit to her imagination when it came to experiencing nature and all its wonders. Not one to sit idly by, Kris was always on the go whether it was work, family or fun.
Kris was born in New York City to Gari Ledyard, a Professor of East Asian Studies, and Evelyn Ledyard, an assistant to the Provost of Columbia University, and was raised in an apartment across from the university. She attended St. Hilda’s and St. Hughes, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood near Columbia, from 2 nd grade through 12 th . As a child she was a joyful, scrappy, and stubborn tomboy with a hatred of bullies and a tendency to gather in strays of all kinds, animal and human—a tendency that persisted her whole life. She graduated from Barnard College in 1987 with honors in German and a minor in biology. Kris’ next step was to enter nursing school at Columbia, where she graduated in 1989 with a BSN, and began working in the neuro-surgical unit at Columbia-Presbyterian. Kris then relocated to Durham to work in Cardiology at Duke Hospital. During a stint in the heart failure research group, she coordinated many trials including BEST, OPTIME and CHARM, to name just a few. In 2003 Kris joined Duke’s Cardiac Diagnostic Unit (CDU) and conducted imaging trials. She spent the remainder of her career in the CDU where she wore many hats, working as a stress nurse one day per week and as a research coordinator the rest of the week. In her last 10 years at Duke Kris served as the lead coordinator in cardiac imaging, with a team of four in her group, before having to leave her
job in 2022 due to disability caused by MSA.
In her personal life Kris was similarly busy. Once she moved to Durham, she embraced opportunities in a range of activities including travel, volleyball, softball, shag dancing, ballooning, sailing, recycling, gardening, teaching Sunday School, raising chickens, teaching mushroom-growing workshops and home renovation. Kris made many trips to her beloved Germany as well as other parts of Europe. After her MSA diagnosis she completed, along with Jim, a bucket list of trips including to the Greek Islands, New Orleans to see Elton John, Costa Rica, an Alpine tour of five European countries (Italy, Switzerland Austria and Germany) and finally a visit to the Tahitia Islands including Bora Bora. Kris built three houses over the years and oversaw significant renovations to four others including her beloved mountain chateau, the Fox and Hen, located in Little Switzerland, NC – where she spent much time on the side of the mountain planting flowers and blueberry bushes as well as providing nectar to her hummingbirds darting back and forth. Her last big project was designing and overseeing the construction of a glass house in which she placed an exercise pool so she could keep active, rain or shine, to fend off the advance of MSA. A perfect day for Kris was gardening under a warm sun next to the koi and goldfish pond adjoining her big meadow, with chickens ranging around her, deer grazing nearby, birds chirping and her dogs and cat roaming around her. A Walt Disney animated movie had nothing on her when she was in her happy place!
Kris’ other passion in life was her children. She had Bonnie with her former husband, Bill, and after her good friend, Catherine Arges, passed she wound up marrying Jim in 2003 and being mother to his three children, Tate, Olivia and newborn Kira. While Kris was a loving mother who constantly looked to expand her children’s lives through trips and activities, she was consistent about motivating them to be their best selves. She was also a bit of a mother bear who you did not want to cross if you had hurt any of her children.
In addition to Jim, Bonnie, Tate, Olivia and Kira, Kris is survived by her sisters, Kathleen Ledyard and Brynna Ledyard (Paul), nephew Cabell Delong, niece Gilly Overgaag, cousin Christopher Ginocchio (Rachel) and aunt Anita Ginocchio (Joe), Uncle Bob Stingle, stepmother Lori Ledyard and brother-in-law, Michael Arges. Kris is also survived by her dear friends Zina Miller, Cherie Lindsey and Stephanie Kerr, who were constant companions in her life before and during her battle with MSA. Kris was predeceased by her father and mother and by her cousin, David Ginocchio.
Final arrangements are by Endswell Funeral Home in Hillsborough, NC.
The family will be receiving visitors December 1st from 3 pm to 5 pm on Kris’s fishpond patio at 4335 Sterling Drive in Durham. A memorial service will be held at Kris’ church, Watts Street Baptist (800 Watts Street, Durham) on December 2nd at 1 pm, followed by a reception in the fellowship hall.
The service will be livestreamed at https://vimeo.com/event/4753464.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to https://defeatmsa.org/.
