NAIROBI, KENYA — Sidney Carolyn Littlefield Kasfir, age 80, passed away peacefully December 29, 2019, due to complications from a short illness. She was born January 18, 1939, in York, Maine, to Robert and Rose Littlefield. Sidney led an extraordinary life.
Sidney followed her heart and mind, pursuing love and scholarship throughout the world. She began a career as a scientist, obtaining a degree in Astronomy and Physics from Simmons College, but then followed her husband Nelson Kasfir, married in 1962, to Uganda where she discovered a passion for African art. After directing the Nommo Gallery in Kampala, she received a PhD in African Art History from the London School of Oriental and African Studies in 1979. She taught at Dartmouth College in the 1980s followed by 23 years at Emory University. Sidney became a leading scholar in her field, which culminated in receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts Council of the African Studies Association in 2017.
She was a role model, inspiring her children to excel in education, encouraging them to believe that they could do and be anything they chose. Despite her busy career, she cleaned skinned knees, dispensed advice, helped mend broken hearts and ensured everyone had dessert. Toward the end of her life, she reflected that: “I feel I am a good mother and career or not, I feel that it may be my most important accomplishment.”
In 1991, she met her dear husband, Kirati Lenaronkoito, in Maralal, Kenya. Over the years, she assisted his work expanding his farm and business, helping raise 10 children. With her help, many of them graduated from college and university and are pursuing professional careers.
Sidney was an accomplished cook, loved dogs, from Wiggles her first to Binti later and in Kenya, Big Kuri and Little Kuri. Back in Atlanta, her daughter’s dog Gracie adopted Sidney as her grandma.
Sidney is survived by her husband Kirati; children Melania Turgelsky and Elisabetta Kasfir, Nasieku, Agnes, Stella, Loitoti, Sainy, Naeku, Gladys, Lerali, Setina and Lari; granddaughters Zoe and Madeleine Turgelsky; grandchildren in Kenya; and sisters Natalie Archer and Nina Bisognani. Her funeral was held in Maralal, Kenya, with memorials in the coming months in Atlanta, Georgia and York, Maine.