Students and teachers at Bishop Kearney High School in Bensonhurst are mourning the loss of a student who died June 15 after a two-year battle with bone cancer.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Bernhardt, who hailed from Bergen Beach, would have graduated in 2020.
“We send our deepest sympathy to her parents Jennifer Fallon Bernhardt ‘88 and Robert Bernhardt and her sister Ella, and brother, Robert. She will always remain in our hearts,” school officials said in a statement. Kaitlyn’s mother, Jennifer Fallon Bernhardt, is a 1988 graduate of Bishop Kearney.
In tribute to Kaitlyn, the Bishop Kearney team that took part in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser at Poly Prep Country Day School on June 16, walking around the athletic field in her memory. The event’s organizing committee also led a moment of silence for her during the Luminaria candle-lighting ceremony honoring those who died of cancer.
Kaitlyn was diagnosed with cancer shortly before entering Bishop Kearney, a Catholic school for girls at 2202 60th St.
A wake is scheduled to take place on June 18 and 19 Saint Bernard Catholic Church from 1 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. The church is located at 2055 East 69th St. in Bergen Beach.
A funeral mass will take place on June 20 at St. Bernard Catholic Church at 9:30 a.m.
Burial will be at Green-Wood Cemetery. Arrangements were made by Scarpaci Funeral Home Inc.
Friends of the Bernhardt Family have set up a GoFundMe page to help the family pay their expenses. Jennifer and Robert Bernhardt had to take off a great deal of time from work to care for their ailing daughter, according to a statement on the page.
The GoFundMe effort, which started on June 16, has raised $21,000 to date. The goal is to raise $100,000.
For more information, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/kaitlyn-rose-bernhardt.