Kimberly Lawver, 52, passed away Sunday, June 13, 2021, in Virginia Beach, VA surrounded by her loving family and friends. Kim was born August 28, 1968, to Allen and Sharon Lawver in Port Deposit, MD. She graduated from Akron University in Akron, OH with a bachelor’s degree in dance and a master’s degree in Art Management. She was a resident of Ohio until 2012 when she moved to Virginia Beach, VA.

Kim worked full time in family practice medical offices in Ohio and most recently in Virginia Beach as an operations coordinator. Her friendly smile and positive demeanor were always there for staff as well as patients. She volunteered her time in committees designed to enrich the staff and physicians’ work environment, improving morale, building teamwork, and improving company loyalty.

For 12 years, she was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Akron in Ohio. She auditioned students for placement in the University’s dance program. She taught complex styles of dance for students seeking careers in the professional dance world. Many of her students achieved success in professional careers as entertainers, professional dancers, and teachers. She choreographed for the University’s Dance company and established productive relationships between the University and the American College Dance Festival Association.

Dancing was Kim’s passion and her life. She involved herself in every aspect of competitive, professional, and recreational dance. During her career, she ran a local community theater for five years, directing two major shows a year with a cast of 40 and staff of 35. As the manager and artistic director for a theater dance center, she instructed 150 + students from age 3 to adult, planned lessons, and established repertoire. She hired, trained, and supervised the staff. Her active participation promoted growth in these organizations and in the arts. Her students loved and respected her.

She was a dance instructor and choreographer for Ballet Virginia in Norfolk, VA since 2015 and also instructed at Pivot Dance Center in Virginia Beach. She taught ballet, tap, and jazz for children, professional, and community programs. She helped develop, organize, and produce live performances and special events, including group choreographer for one of Norfolk’s Grand Illumination events.

While in Virginia, she enjoyed ballroom dancing as a hobby and leisure pursuit. In doing so, she formed new friends with like interests and found others with similar passions. She loved to dance, and this was new and challenging. She did it for fun and for the competition. In the process, she was introduced to and became a member of the Sandbridge Sisters, an informal group of women who looked out for each other and spent time together at the beach, one of Kim’s favorite pastimes.

Kim’s true love was connecting with her students and spreading her passion for dance, especially tap. Often families and friends of students that she taught would be pulled into her classes because they were fun, entertaining, and healthy. Her life was blessed because of the positive influence she made in peoples’ lives who met her through dance or took her classes.

Even during the last days of her life, she became a special patient of the many nurses and care team members who helped care for her through the final days of her disease. God blessed her life with purpose, and she was rewarded knowing that she was loved, respected and appreciated for her kindness and positive attitude. Her smile was striking, and her eyes caught your attention as much as the choreography moves she taught.

Growing up in Ohio with her brother Craig and mother Sharon, she and her brother spent many summers and holidays with their dad, stepmother, and four other siblings. She grew even closer to her family after moving to Virginia in 2012, living with her parents, Allen and Mary Lawver, while she established her dance career and started a new life here. In addition to her parents Allen and Mary, left to cherish her memory are her siblings Craig Lawver from Ohio; Christine Lawver and Derrick Lawver and his wife Laura from Virginia Beach; Kelly Lawver from Ft Lauderdale, FL; and Nathan Lawver and his wife Alissa from St Petersburg, FL. She also leaves behind nieces Kayla, Kennedy, Casey, Makenzie, Sahara, Hunter, Madison, and Avery; nephews Logan, Chase, and Wyatt, as well as her dance students, Virginia and Ohio friends, and ballroom partners who remember her fondly. She has been predeceased by her mother Sharon Lawver and her grandparents Don and Lois Wise, Beanie and Mary Lawver, and Harold and Mary Berger.

The family will hold memorial services in both Virginia Beach, VA and Louisville, OH later this summer. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society at https://donate3.cancer.org/. Kimberly’s full obituary is available and online condolences to the family can be expressed by visiting vacremationsociety.com.