After a six-year battle against liver cancer, Kimberlee Jean Autry, wife of former two-term Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, passed away Oct. 18 in Santa Monica.

“Jesus called the love of my life home. Kimberlee Autry was the kindest, most loving person I’ve ever known in my life,” Alan said in a Facebook post. “She was also one of the toughest. She fought liver cancer for the last six years. And she did it with amazing hope, strength, and courage.”

Kimberlee, a native of Benton, Arkansas, met Alan while he was in the midst of his acting career and they married in 1994. When Alan transitioned into politics, she worked side-by-side with him and they would often make joint public appearances. Before Alan became mayor in 2001, they often worked out together at the old Gold’s Gym at Blackstone Avenue and Griffith Way.

Blessed with a quick wit, Kimberlee enlivened many political conversations and sometimes second-guessed some of the mayor’s decisions in conversations with local journalists.

She served as a field representative for then-Rep. Jeff Denham in 2011-2012, and also developed the “Farm Grown” program for the Fresno Grizzlies baseball team. She starred alongside her husband and David Hart in the 2011 movie “Forgiven” and helped Alan run their acting school and Dirt Road Productions.

“Kimberlee had her own fan club and she deserved one because she was an underrated actress,” Alan said. “Over time, 3.2 million people have seen Forgiven and she developed her own following.”

Quelling a Protest

Alan told GV Wire on Tuesday about the time there was a protest outside Denham’s Fresno office. The chief of staff told Kimberlee not to go outside, but she did so anyway. Later, Alan arrived at the scene and was surprised to see the group laughing and talking with his wife.

“One of the guys said, ‘We should have elected her mayor instead of you,'” Alan recalled.

In a Facebook post, he summed up her personality and the challenge he faces without her.

“Kim was a little handful of sunshine that lit up every place she went, and every person she met. Right now, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to carry on. But I know she would want me to, so that’s exactly what I’m going to try to do.”

Alan also had a message for husbands: Appreciate your wife “and treasure every single moment you have together.”

Service Scheduled for Nov. 20 in Fresno

In addition to Alan, she is survived by daughters Heather Abelbeck and Lauren Roche, son Austin Autry, and grandsons Kaden Clark and Joseph Roche, sisters Jan Green and Tonya Morgan, nieces Chloe Morgan and Lucy Morgan, nephews Parker Snider and Trevor Cain, and brothers-in-law Jody Morgan and Dane Pruitt.

A service to celebrate her life will be held on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 11 a.m. at Peoples Church in the G.L. Johnson Chapel, and at a later date in Benton, Arkansas.

“We invite all who loved her to join us in commemorating her remarkable journey and the joy she brought to the world,” the Autry family said in a statement.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that remembrances be sent to Break the Barriers, an organization Kimberlee deeply loved and supported.