Katherine Spies Giumenti

Katherine Spies Giumenti, 54, of Westerville, was taken by the hands of the Lord and gently lifted to Heaven on January 12, 2019, in Mt. Carmel/St. Ann’s Hospital in Westerville after winning her battle with cancer. She fought cancer like a true warrior and overcame it for 14 years, making it possible for her and her husband to raise their two sons to become fine young men. For the last two months of her life she chose to stop chemotherapy so that she could live life on her terms and laugh with her family and friends, eat what she wanted, sleep when she wanted, and just enjoy life undictated by the ravages of chemotherapy. And she let cancer know there was no seat at the table when she and God decided it was her time to pass.

The daughter of the late Judge Harlan R. Spies and the late Marjory A. Spies, she was born on August 18, 1964, at Union Hospital in Dover, Ohio. After their father’s death, Katie along with her brother and sister donated the Hospice Room at Union Hospital as she and her sister, Amanda, had slept on the floor of their father’s room keeping vigil over him until he passed. The siblings did not want any other family to have to go through the same.

Katie graduated from Dover High School in 1982 as a Valedictorian of her graduating class. As she was growing up, she was very active in many different sports at the local YMCA as well as in high school. She graduated from Ohio State University cum laude in 1986, and from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law cum laude in 1989, and was on the Ohio State Law Journal. She passed the Ohio State Bar Examination in 1989 and began to practice law in Columbus, Ohio. She spent several years with a highly recognized law firm until she found her fit with the prestigious law firm of Bricker & Eckler, LLP in 1997, where Katie specialized in Employment and Labor law. She pioneered the way for young female lawyers to work part-time while their children were young, and when Katie’s own children were older she resumed full-time work and became Partner with Bricker & Eckler in 2016. She proved that through hard work and perseverance, any goal is achievable for a working mother and professional.

She married Michael J. Giumenti, of Dover, on June 10, 1989, after graduating from law school, and they celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary on June 10, 2018. After their marriage, they moved to Westerville, Ohio, where they raised their family.

Katie is survived by her husband, Michael J. Giumenti; her sons, Nicholas M. and Marshal L. Giumenti; her sister, Attorney Amanda K. Spies (husband, Chief Michael P. Goodwin) of New Philadelphia; her brother Andrew J. Spies (wife, Joan Spies) of Palm Harbor, Florida; best friend Juli Faris Bruce of Columbus; and many other beloved family members, and close friends.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, January 17, 2019, from 2 to 4 PM, and from 6 to 8 PM at the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home and Crematory in Dover. Additional visitation will be held on Friday, January 18, 2019, from noon to 1:00 pm at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 202 E. High Avenue, in New Philadelphia. Funeral Services celebrating Katie’s life will begin at 1 PM, January 18th, at the church.

In her life on this Earth, Katie was blessed with a beautiful and vivacious laugh and smile. You could always tell when Katie was in the building. Her sense of humor was second to none. She believed that you should show kindness every day to at least one person you did not know, without regard for who they were or what they had. We called this “Katie’s Message”. She was the first person to help someone with a problem, all you needed to do was ask and she was right there. Katie knew no strangers in her life; everyone was a friend, and she was blessed with many, many friends. There will be no sitting for Katie in Heaven. God will keep her very, very busy.

Please feel free to make donations in Katie’s honor to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research through the Ohio State University at 1145 Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43212.