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Obituary for Kathleen J. Wall
Surrounded by family, Kathleen Jane Wall, 74, of Littleton, Colorado, passed away September 12, 2016. She is survived by her husband, Johnnie; their children and children’s spouses: Dara Hughes, Tom Hughes, Darren Wall, Becky Wall, Debi Trahant, and Kevin Trahant; their grandchildren Colton, Weston, Hannah, Egan, T.J., Elise, and Elizabeth; and Kathleen’s sisters Marlene Holt and Judi Samuelson. She is preceded in death by her parents; her in-laws, Lucille and Bud Wall; her brother-in-law, Danny Samuelson; and her nephew, Derek Holt.
Kathleen, also known as Kathy (in Colorado) or Katie (in Nebraska) was born March 11, 1942 in Grand Island, NE to William E. Svoboda and Evelyn Mitchell Svoboda. Kathleen was raised 20 miles north of Grand Island in St. Paul, NE. In school Kathleen was active in 4H (where she developed her love for baking), Jobes’ Daughters, chorus, pep club, and band playing the tenor saxophone. After graduating from high school in St. Paul, Kathleen attended University of Nebraska at Kearney -- at that time it was known as Kearney State College. Kathleen decided she needed a change and moved to Lincoln, NE, working at the University. After a short time in Lincoln, Kathleen came to Denver, moving in with one of her cousins. Kathleen’s family was frequently traveling to Colorado for camping and hunting trips so she already had fond memories and ties to the state.
While working her first job in Colorado at Red Seal Potato Chips, Kathleen met Johnnie. After a few months of courtship, Kathleen and Johnnie got engaged and were married 9 months later. They bought their first house in Denver shortly after being married. They were active in Kathleen’s sorority and with their many friends in the area.
Three years after marriage, Johnnie and Kathy had their first child, Dara. A few years later they decided to move to the suburbs in Lakewood where they then had their twins, Darren and Debi.
After working various secretarial jobs throughout Denver, Kathleen found herself working for the federal government in the Endangered Species Department. Kathleen retired after 24 years with Endangered Species and the Fish and Wildlife Service. While working there Kathleen was part of the team that helped reintroduce the Black Footed Ferret and Peregrine Falcon as well as several endangered fish in the Colorado River Recovery Program.
Kathleen absolutely loved her work with Endangered Species and Fish and Wildlife Service. She took part in any and all activities she could -- trips to view the Sandhill Cranes, Grey Wolf sanctuaries, Black Footed Ferret Conservation Center, and various fish hatcheries throughout Colorado.
Being active in all things around her, Kathleen never missed a single activity of her children’s -- football games, basketball games, cheer leading competitions, track meets, gymnastic meets, Girl Scout meetings, and choir performances. She spent hundreds of volunteer hours over several years successfully running fundraising for Debi’s track club which enabled them to buy a team van and trailer for out of town meets. Three kids going in three different directions… how did she do it?!
And then came the grandchildren whom she was so proud of. Although happy about the marriage of her kids, Kathleen was much more excited about the promise of grandkids! Darren and Becky had Colton and Weston at the same hospital that Kathleen and Johnnie had their own twins 30 years earlier. Dara and Debi had Hannah and Egan just 22 days apart. And if that wasn’t a tight enough timeframe for Johnnie and Kathy to travel from Colorado to Louisiana for the two births; then, Dara and Debi had T.J. and Elise just 6 days apart three years later. Last but not least, the 7th grandchild, Elizabeth a.k.a. Honey Badger, arrived when Debi gave birth to her in January of 2010. While still healthy enough, we would always see Kathleen at the baseball games, swim meets, tumbling classes, choir and theatre performances, and award ceremonies at the grandchildren’s schools.
Kathleen loved to travel and would do it as much as Johnnie would let her! She enjoyed their motorcycle rides with their friends who also owned Harley Davidsons, so much so that she would get Johnnie to do them even when he wasn’t wanting to. She got Johnnie to go to Hawaii and visit friends; Nebraska, California, Arizona, and Louisiana as often as she could to visit family. To celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, Johnnie took Kathleen to Florida with most of their family coming with them.
Upon retirement, Kathleen put her all into the church she loved, Waterstone, which she had started attending in 1993. She was involved in many different Sunday School and Bible Study groups; Missionary Task Force; and the front office and Preschool work. But her most favorite volunteer activity was working the donut table on Sundays!