Kathleen Wiebke Williams, 68, passed away on March 28, 2026, at the Avalon View Health and Wellness Center in Liberty, Missouri. During her last few months, her friends Judy and Gayla stepped up to help her as she went from assisted living to the hospital, back to assisted living, to a rehabilitation facility, back to the hospital, and then to the nursing home with hospice. In the nursing home, Gayla spent hours with Kathy almost every day. Sisters Liz and Rene stayed in close contact by phone and text. Kathy was cared for by Ascend Hospice and the staff at Avalon View, and in the end, she had a quiet and peaceful death. The hospice nurses stayed with her constantly during the last 12 hours of her life, most of which were during the night.

Prior to the Avalon View, Kathy had lived for three and a half years at the Grand Royale assisted living facility in Gladstone, Missouri, which she enjoyed and loved immensely, and she had many friends and caring staff. Her best friend there was Deanna, who made a huge difference in her life. They were always together for meals, apartment chores, trading clothes, cards, Bingo, and just hanging out. Prior to Grand Royale, Kathy had lived in her home of many years in North Kansas City until she became more disabled from her several illnesses, became more isolated, and became less able to function on her own.

Kathy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1957. Her father was a doctor, and her mother was a nurse. She had nine siblings. After her mother died in 1967, Kathy and two of her siblings moved to Oklahoma with her Aunt Marguerite and Uncle Arthur. Shelater went to live with her Aunt Betty and Uncle Jim in Independence, Missouri, for her last two years of high school and her years in college. She graduated from Truman High School in 1975 and from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg in 1979 with a BS in Education.

Kathy’s longest employment of 17 years was with TWA as a Tariff Auditor until the airline went out of business without providing retirement benefits. After that, she was a case worker at the Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Family Services, fors everal years. While she was at TWA, she travelled extensively with friends on the airline's discount. She often travelled with her friend Gayla, who also worked for TWA. Kathy wrote that she travelled the world to more than a dozen countries on 4 continents. She also travelled to 35 of the 50 states in the US. She told Gayla that her favorite places in the world were Santorini and Athens, Greece.

Kathy loved her many cats, the Chiefs, family reunions in Oklahoma, reading and book club, photography, board games, Bingo, arts and crafts, jewelry making, women’s music and their concerts, card games, dining out, movies, and collecting coins, stamps, rocks, and shells. Tammy said that she frequently found Kathy crafting in her basement with Lady Gaga music blasting!! She was a member of an active Kansas City women’s group for several years. She closely followed politics, past and present, and went to a rally for Bill Clinton with her friend Tammy when he was campaigning in KC for the presidential election.

Kathy is survived by her stepmother, Claudette, her brother Will, and five sisters: Liz, Judy, Rene, Carolyn, and Nancy, two brothers-in-law, Dale and James, one sister-in-law, Wendy, and 15 nephews and nieces! She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Lou Vee, her brother David, and her sisters Ellen and Roberta.

Kathy’s final wishes were to be cremated and scattered along I-70. However, she agreed that scattering her ashes in the woods near a lake would be perfectly acceptable. She didn’t want a memorial service, but if anyone would like to donate in her honor, you can contribute to an animal shelter near you.

Thanks to Judy, Tammy, Rene, Liz, and Gayla for their contributions to this obituary.