There was a SVU marathon on USA a few months ago that ran almost all of Season 1, and I loved those first episodes. One of my favorite sub-plots was Elliot Stabler's home life, how he was close with his kids and how patient his wife was with him.
Honestly, Kathy Stabler was not a bad character. I ship Bensler but also know nothing was ever going to happen between the two as long as Stabler was married, because he really did love his wife. Kathy was so patient with him during all those long hours of processing grueling and appalling information, and when she got angry at him, what the heck do you expect? She left him because she was tired of worrying herself every day - but even then, she ended up reconciling with him.
There are a ton of down-bad-Bensler fans who just hated Kathy Stabler so bad when she didn't do anything wrong. Her existence just made them gag, which is pretty pathetic. Her death was really sad, honestly. She did not deserve what happened to her.
So in conclusion, people should not hate on Kathy Stabler anymore, especially since she's gone. All those years she was loyal and understanding towards her husband; and it's not like she was terrible towards Olivia anyway - the three seemed to get along really well!
I hope we see more of Stabler's kids in L&O OC.