Pamela "Piney" Kesting-Handly

Our beloved wife, mother, and champion, Piney Kesting-Handly, passed away Tuesday September 22, surrounded by her loving family, friends and dogs, at the Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain.

Born to a U.S. Army war veteran and his Munich-born bride in Baltimore on December 23, 1953, a well-placed holiday sprig turned “Pamela” into the “Piney” we all knew and loved. Growing up with her sister Kahren and her German “bruncle” Arthur in a tiny row house in Roger’s Forge, Piney added near-native pronunciation to the German grammar and vocabulary she learned at Towson High, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Munich. It was there she also acquired her life-long love of dogs, caring for family collies Laddie, Rudie, Laddie II and Arthur’s Australian sheepdog, Zeus. Doing post-graduate study of third world media at the Geschicter SchollInstitute in Munich, Piney met her dearest lifelong friend and “sister,” the German journalist and media critic Ingrid Scheithauer. Her romantic involvement with a Palestinian-German doctor led her to a midnight flight to a remote Lebanese airstrip where she met Yassir Arafat and provided needed medical supplies to Palestinian refugees in civil war-torn Lebanon. Returning to Washington to complete her study of Arabic at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Piney became active monitoring the U.S. media coverage of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. During this period, Piney began writing for Saudi media, and married Kevin Handly, a Federal Reserve attorney who shared her passionate interest in the Middle East. Kevin’s legal career took them to Boston where they raised dogs first in the Back Bay, and finally in Jamaica Plain. They returned to the Middle East to adopt two infant orphans, Tea, now 33, and Zoe, now 28. Through the 80’s and 90’s, Piney journeyed often to the Middle East and Central Asia, writing articles about Islamic art, music, and culture for Aramco’s popular World magazine. Piney’s compassion for refugees led her to volunteer work and eventual acension to the governing board of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), America’s leading charity for Palestinian refugees. Her activities for ANERA included field work in Jordan and the occupied West Bank, and strenuous fundraising and humanitarian support of displaced people of Gaza, Lebanon and the occupied West Bank. Throughout her career as a leader, writer and volunteer, Piney dedicated herself to humanitarian support of the Palestinian, Jordanian, and Lebanese people.

Those who knew Piney remember her as a brave, generous and deeply compassionate person. She had an incredible gift for making everyone she met feel valued, welcomed and loved. She gave of herself completely and never asked anything in return. She was an angel among us.

Throughout her challenging professional career, Piney was a devoted wife and mother, an incredibly supportive daughter, cousin and friend. She is survived by her husband Kevin, her beautiful daughters Teá Montagna and Zoe, her Labradors Cooper and Sophie.

She is also survived by her aunt, Pabu; her cousins, Ellen, Stephen, and John Hoggard and their partners and amazing nieces and nephews; her extended Handly Family, including Marshal and Carla, Brian and Ginger, Paul and Jackie; and many nieces and nephews.

Piney is now reunited with her parents, Ted and Marianne Kesting; her older sister Kahren; her bruncle, Arthur; her cousin, David and countless other loved ones who welcome her with open arms. Her brave spirit abides in all of us, forever.

Relatives and friends are invited to Piney's visiting hours on Wednesday October 7 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at Kfoury Funeral home 8 Spring Street West Roxbury, MA 02132.

Piney's Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday October 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Cecilia's Parish 18 Belvidere Street Boston, MA 02115.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to ANERA support.anera.org/donate/now