Friends, co-workers remember Sycamore’s Kimberly Hurley for kindness, devotion to sons

SYCAMORE – Friends and co-workers of 56-year-old Kimberly Hurley said they’ll remember her for her laughter, love, grit and devotion to her two sons.

Kimberly Parsons Hurley, 56, of Sycamore, was found shot to death next to her husband, Robert Hurley, 58, in the backyard of their Maplewood Drive home the morning of Nov. 22. Authorities said they found a gun on Robert Hurley. Kimberly had filed for divorce a week before her death, according to DeKalb County court records. Sycamore police have said an investigation remains ongoing.

Friends and loved ones said they’ve been reeling ever since, expressing grief and horror in online tributes, and rallying for the Hurley’s two adult sons. A GoFundMe account has been set up to raise funds for the sons, and to help pay for funeral expenses.

Donald Jackson, a neighbor, said he remembered Kimberly as neighborly, and a kind hugger who’d share tomatoes from her garden and offer some to his dogs, too. She was the first to come introduce herself when he and his wife moved to the area, he said.

“If we were not around she would bring over tomatoes and put it on our porch. She even gave me and my wife her cellphone number for if we needed anything like sugar,” Jackson said. “My wife told her that she might need sugar because she is a baker. Kim even loved our dogs ... She wanted dogs but said her husband had allergies so she couldn’t have any.”

Danielle Hall, the GoFundMe organizer said she, Tonia Wilson and Amanda Harms – all mothers of best friends of Kimberly’s sons – took it upon themselves to start finding ways to help support Hurley’s children.

“I have not known Kim very long, but the time I have known her she has been the sweetest and most caring person,” Hall wrote. “She treated our boys like her own, and I will do the same moving forward with her boys. I will remember Kim by how kind and sweet she was and how she cared so much about her boys.”

“She had an impact on a lot of people’s lives. She has overcome so much and this is devastating the way her life was taken.”

—  Danielle Hall

As of Thursday, the GoFundMe had raised $16,001 with the goal set for $20,000. It isn’t the only fund available to help support the Hurley’s sons.

As a mother who saw Kimberly treat her son like her own, Hall said she knows Hurley left a lasting legacy on her community.

“She had an impact on a lot of people’s lives. She has overcome so much and this is devastating the way her life was taken,” Hall said.

For more than 35 years, Kimberly worked at Pat’s Place, a hair and nail salon at 329 N. Wood Dale in Wood Dale. She’d developed a robust and loyal client base. In the days since Kimberly was killed, former clients and co-workers have posted tributes and condolences on social media, remembering Kimberly as a devoted mother.

Lea Torres, one of the owners Pat’s Place, said the nail salon was closed the week following Kim’s death. In that time, co-workers and longtime patrons have come into the salon to offer each other support, and to memorialize their friend.

They’re also collecting money to give to Hurley’s sons, Torres said.

“People, clients have been dropping in and dropping money into her box, so we’ll being giving them that,” Torres said.

Instead of hosting a company Christmas Party this year, Pat’s Place employees will get together on Jan. 24 to celebrate what would have been Kimberly’s 57th birthday.

“I was with her for her wedding, when she had her babies. We were very supportive of everything that she went through,” Torres said.

Torres said she was proud of Kimberly for maintaining her sobriety in her final years, and will always remember how the two of them would laugh together over nearly anything.

This year, Kimberly also could often be found painting nails in a multi-business retail space at the corner of Sacramento and West State streets in Sycamore.

Chrystal Ciodyk, owner of Chrystal Clinic downtown, said she hired local artist Alexis Oner to construct a memorial for Kimberly and another Sycamore resident who was killed in 2023 – Kaleb McCall. McCall, 17, a Sycamore High School senior, was stabbed to death on Sept. 7, 2023.

Ciodyk said she knew both victims.

“She [Kimberly] was doing nails at the end of the hallway, so she’s my work neighbor. And then Kaleb was my son’s best friend,” Ciodyk said, noting this isn’t her first bout with grief and healing.

When she was in high school, Ciodyk’s boyfriend died in a car accident.

“Going through that trauma, and the healing process sort of prepared me for going through this now, and helping my son, and neighbors and community,” Ciodyk said.

She said she decided to also honor McCall in the memorial artwork because “his life was lost due to violence.”

“It’s almost like a plea to the community to start working on healing their heart,” Ciodyk said. “I feel like if everyone was working on healing in a way, maybe they wouldn’t turn to violence.”

Ciodyk said she only knew Kimberly for about seven months, but described her as a welcoming and positive bright light to everyone that come into their places of business.

When Kimberly wasn’t painting nails, she could often be found painting at Bleu Works, an art exhibit and instructional space at 423 N. Main St., Sycamore.

Professional artist and Bleu Works owner Jenny Schneck, shared how she’ll remember Kimberly on a Facebook page shortly after she was killed.

Schneck described Kimberly as “one of the most wonderful women” she has ever met.

When Bleu Works had not yet opened and “was only a rumor,” Schneck wrote that Kimberly reached out to share her excitement and ideas for what she hoped to paint. Kimberly came into Bleu Works the first week it was open, and the two women soon were fast friends.

“It is impossible for me to separate Bleu Palette from Kim,” Schnek wrote. “She was my biggest cheerleader everywhere we went. Always sending me class ideas. Attending almost every class I had and hosting countless parties. She introduced me to women who have become some of my best friends.”

She wrote that Kimberly’s death was “a tragic and senseless act of violence,” and called on her followers to protect the women in their lives.

“My heart is broken and I don’t think it will ever repair,” Schneck wrote. “God love you and keep you you angel of art, Kim.”