Kim Manning

Kim’s Love Story

With deep sorrow we announce the death of Kim Manning of Canmore, Alberta. She leaves her husband and best friend, Tim Koger, their beloved god daughter, Anna Minerik, her aunt Avril Fitt, siblings Claire Hitchman, Sarah Armstrong, Jill Scott and Grant Manning, half siblings Mellisa and Alister Manning, nieces, nephews; and many friends.

Kim’s sense for adventure began with her arrival on December 8, 1952, amidst the last great London fog — a fog so thick that her father had to walk in front of the taxi carrying her mother to guide them safely to the hospital.

Raised in East Sussex, where annual ski holidays in the Alps, membership with the Hayling Island Sailing Club, riding, farm chores and roaming the countryside with the local boys were part of everyday life, Kim developed into a joyful athlete with a can-do attitude and adventurous spirit. Education at The Royal Tunbridge Wells County Grammar School for Girls further completed her character. There, inspiring teachers forged in her deep self-confidence and an inquisitive approach to life and all it had to offer. By young adulthood, Kim was poised to do or become anything she set her mind to.

Kim’s affinity for nature combined with her appetite for adventure, steered her towards a career as a geologist. Well accustomed to holding her own, Kim became one of the first women to work on the offshore rigs in the North Sea.

In her early twenties, Kim discovered rock climbing. The physical and mental demands of the sport suited her, and she sensed an energetic connection in the stone. Climbing became more than a passion — it became a way to be in the world, and meet kindred spirits who lived for getting the most out of their free time and life itself.

A pull to the mountains, frustration with the UK’s rigid class system and restrictive gender norms, and the appeal of Alberta’s more progressive and better paying oil and gas industry, drew Kim across the pond to Calgary, Alberta. She soon found work, became a proud owner of an MGB sports car, and joined the Calgary Mountain Club —a lively band of bright, eccentric, talented, British expats with a few Canadian upstarts sprinkled in.

In the early 1980s, on a climbing trip, Kim met some European climbers working in the emerging industrial rope access industry. The chance to work at the forefront of this highly innovative and technical field prompted her to pull up stakes and move to Europe for a few years to literally "learn the ropes." The work suited her skills so well that she returned to North America to establish her own industrial rope access business in the mid 80’s. Kim was revered by her employees as a strong leader and fierce protector of their well-being. Yet, as typical of the times, clients seeking the person in charge at a work site would often overlook her in favour of one of the men on her all-male team. A woman had to be strong to be herself in that era.

In 1989 Kim’s instinct led her to the love of her life and soulmate, Tim Koger. They met during a job interview at Mount Bachelor, Oregon—Tim as the boss, and Kim an aspiring ski instructor. Unbeknownst to them, in Bonnie Rait’s words, they would “laugh a little too hard and stand a little too close” long before they realized they had fallen in love. The couple married in 1994, and, in 2000, moved permanently to the small, vibrant mountain community of Canmore, Alberta where they realized their deepest sense of place and belonging with cherished friends.

Their love expanded when Kim, Tim and their god daughter, Anna Minerik chose one another as family when Anna was a child. They showed her, in Anna’s words, “what it looked like for two people to move through the world together — with such pure, healthy love towards each other.” Anna reflected: “Even when you are not quite the person they believe you can be yet, their belief in you gives you the strength to grow into the best version of yourself.” Many people who were impacted by Kim’s love would echo Anna’s words.

Epicurean, equestrian, sailor, friend, climber, scuba diver, artist, reader, aesthete, climber, shopper, entrepreneur, seeker, cyclist and skier — of all these pursuits Kim did, she did them well. And of all these pursuits the most significant, later in life, would be her spiritual practice. This work helped Kim find her way to the centre of her heart and realize a sense of completion. She was not the sum of what she had accomplished or mastered; she was love itself.

One final event awaited Kim. In 2019, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. She met this challenge as she did life, full on. Kim was utterly forthright, and vulnerable in the way she shared her thoughts and feelings. Rarely did she let a conversation end without expressing her gratitude for the love she felt. But for a lack of strength, she and Tim held nothing back in living for the joy, love and delight they could squeeze out of each day. Kim faced her journey with clear-eyed wisdom and a wicked sense of humour. Diminished but not defeated, Kim sought the outdoors and the activities they loved up until the last few weeks of her life. Her favourite way to ask for a tighter rope was to say, “Call 800-winch-a-wench!”

In Kim’s beloved, Anna’s words, “Kim is a part of all of us now, and we must carry her spirit forward in our adventures and our interactions with others, so even those who did not know her can feel her spirit.”

We will miss you, dear one. We are better humans for knowing you.

Kim would like to be remembered by her friends while gathered at the dinner table and in the great outdoors doing the things they love. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to: The Canmore Hospital Foundation