In Memory

Kathleen Clement (Hofmeister)

Kathleen Clement (Hofmeister)



 
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07/30/19 11:25 AM #7    

Paul Sandro

KATHY, Dick Galaty, Tony Gullo


07/30/19 11:27 AM #8    

Paul Sandro

Kathy with Margie Gregory


07/30/19 11:30 AM #9    

Paul Sandro

Kathy at North Avenue Beach


07/30/19 11:31 AM #10    

Paul Sandro

Kathy's House c.2002

 


07/30/19 11:33 AM #11    

Paul Sandro

Kathy and Margie Gregory 1983 graduation


07/30/19 11:35 AM #12    

Paul Sandro

Kathy with Cee, one of the many Hmong women she worked with.

 


07/30/19 11:36 AM #13    

Paul Sandro


07/30/19 11:37 AM #14    

Paul Sandro

Kathy with her partner Lyle, 2001


07/30/19 12:51 PM #15    

Paul Sandro

 

I've posted these pictures of our dear friend Kathy who died July 20th. I was fortunate to be able to spend a few hours with her in Lacrosse at the Saint Francis/ Mayo Clinic Hospice two days earlier. She was heavily but mercifullly sedated, and I couldn't tell to what extent she was aware of my presence or understood what I was saying and feeling. Kathy had been at the center of a group of friends we had in high school, always welcoming new people--often at her house which was located near the high school and became a stop-in place and a party spot. Now, at her bedside, holding her hand, I wanted to thank her for her friendship and for her fearless openness to new ideas and experiences and her search for values we could live by. I told her that the atmosphere she helped create among our friends--call it artsy, intellectual; call it crazy fun--was something that has stuck with me my whole life. I thanked her for that. I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who feels that way. Luckily I had been able to tell her these things some 12 years ago when we re-conected and corresponded by letter and telephone.  Then, after losing touch for some time, Kathy's daughter Maggie found me through Facebook, and we re-conected. Kathy's partner Lyle had suffered a long, debilitating illness and had died; Kathy was suffering his loss and having health problems of her own. But every time we would talk, regardless of the ups or frequent downs of her situation, I'd come away feeling touched by the authentic, ever-searching presence that was Kathy.

P.S. I very much appreciate Jo Shimon's In Memory tribute (above), which describes Kathy's spirit wonderfully. 

 

 


07/31/19 06:42 PM #16    

Joyce Hanley

My dear, dear friend of 70 years,

My heart is broken because you are no longer here for me to call. 

No one shared the experiences that you and I did.  What silly children we were.  Remember the time we wetted cotton balls with tap water and threw them on your bathroom ceiling, and they stuck?  We laughed ourselves sick!  There were the frequent times in grade school that we would play in your "cubby", a couple of steps down from your kitchen, always on rainy days. We were members of the Oak Park Club, and swam every day, sometimes twice a day, making the attendant's life miserable, I'm afraid.  Her name was Agnes, and she wore a really bad wig. We would go for long, casual walks all over Oak Park and River Forest. We spent the night at each other's houses, made ballerinas from Hollyhock flowers, saved many baby birds that had fallen from trees,only to have them die in our care.

In high school you and I would sit dreamy-eyed on your sofa, listening to Johnny Mathis. On summer nights, we would sit on the swing on your screened-in porch, and have long, long talks about boys. We would listen to the crickets.  It was sublime.  We went downtown on the "El" on many occasions - to the museums, to the army surplus stores to shop for my Honey Bun costume for Halloween.  We went to the lake for a boat ride.  We sat right up in the front.  When conditions got too choppy, everyone went under cover, and the captain signaled for us to come in.  We wouldn't have any of it!  We delighted in getting soaked!!  

We grew up.  Life happened.  We had children. We lost contact for awhile, but I had a P.I. friend of mine locate you. We never lost contact again.  

Kathy, I love you and miss you.  The posts here from your friends are a testament to what you left us.  I shall see you again.

Love,  Joyce

 


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