IN MEMORIAM - SIMONE KATZENBERG - 26th March 1956 - 18th February 2008
Thu 21st February, 2008
It is with great sorrow that we record the death on 18th February 2008 of Simone Katzenberg.
Simone joined us as a partner in 1998 and quickly made her mark as a dynamic and highly respected family lawyer. She was held in high regard by other family law practitioners, both solicitors and counsel, and was greatly respected by those Family Court judges who knew her. She always gave calm and practical advice to her clients, many of whom became her friends as they appreciated her decisive contribution to helping them re-order their lives.
In March 2002, with no warning at all, and after a gruelling 60 hour trip to Detroit on a case, she returned to London feeling unwell. She was diagnosed with a virulent form of leukemia and spent the better part of the next two years at the Royal Free Hospital undergoing a series of operations, including a life-saving bone marrow transplant from her brother Stefan. The medical team who looked after her would marvel at her defiance of her condition, since clinically she had no right to be alive after her initial diagnosis But somehow she survived.
Her illness was savage and relentless, but Simone never lost her spirit. She fought ridiculous odds and astonished us all by recovering sufficiently to return as a Consultant and enjoy some quality of life for the last three years or so – despite being constantly in and out of hospital on so many more occasions, since the slightest bug would debilitate her as her immune system had collapsed.
She was kept alive by her own extraordinary will to see her three sons grow up and she was aided and abetted by her amazing mother who, though in her late 80’s when Simone was struck down, never left her hospital bedside – unless it was to look after her grandsons. Stefan, too, played an heroic part and flew across the Atlantic weekend after weekend to comfort his sister.
Simone was a passionate believer in the Anthony Nolan Trust. She supported it as best she could by advocating, in her articles and at those gatherings she was well enough to attend, the need for potential donors to register and for others, unable to do so, to provide what financial contributions they could afford.
Simone was 51 when she died. She should have been in the prime of her life. Those of us at Ross & Craig who knew her best, will miss her terribly, and forever remember her courage and her smile.
The Partners and Staff at Ross & Craig
