Kathleen K. Kilkuskie, the loving wife of Anthony Kilkuskie, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 71 in Ephrata WellSpan Community Hospital on Saturday May 26, 2018.
Raised in Ephrata, Kathleen was born in Reading to the late Henry W. Kerchner and Marie (Krutul) Kerchner on Feb. 17, 1947. Surviving Kathleen is her husband, A. Anthony Kilkuskie, with whom she celebrated 46 years of marriage on Jan. 22, 2018.
Also, surviving are her sister: Barbara Boyd of Las Vegas, Nevada; and her brother: Karl Kerchner of Mount Gretna.
In addition to her parents, Kathy was preceded in death by her sister, Beth, in 1958.
Kathleen was a member of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church, Ephrata and was a 1961 Graduate of OMPH School. She graduated from Ephrata High School in 1965 and the University of Maryland in 1969 with a BA in criminology. She was employed for several years by Dun & Bradstreet before becoming business manager and title searcher for her husband’s law practice. She had fond memories of being a lifeguard and running the summer swimming lesson program at the Ephrata Pool, during her college years. She also enjoyed being an adult leader of an Ephrata Rec Center Girls Club, and a Red Cross certified canoe instructor. She was a proud charter member of a spinoff of the Ephrata Jr. Women’s Club known as the Sacred Order of the Board, a ladies group which promoted socialization, good food and drink; and which occasionally allowed husbands and/or male friends to participate.
Kathy was an excellent and adventurous cook, famous for hosting an annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner and a pre-Easter dinner at which she introduced guests to unusual culinary selections. She hosted, for friends, a 20 year run of annual clambakes at the Schaefferstown “Kabin” which included, in addition to the obvious victuals and beverages, mandatory challenges for the guests.
Kathy served many years on the board of directors for the Ephrata Area Social Services, and also on the board of directors for the Ephrata Public Library.
Kathy enjoyed annual home-and-home visits with her sister Barbara, first at Orlando and later Las Vegas, and gatherings at her brother Karl’s Mount Gretna retreat with the inevitable display of fireworks, no matter what the holiday.
She enjoyed traveling and surprising her husband by arranging exotic trips such as the Highlands of Mexico, to visit the wintering Monarchs. Their travels also took them to the Peruvian Amazon, South Africa, Iceland, inside the Arctic Circle in Norway, and Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on the Baltic Sea and Croatia on the Adriatic Sea.
Kathy will be missed by Casey, the office cat, and the occasional neighborhood visitors.
Friends are invited to gather at Gravenor Home for Funerals, 100 W. Main St., Ephrata, for a time of visitation on Thursday, May 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. A mass of Christian burial will be said, at OMPH Church, 320 Church Ave., Ephrata, at 11 a.m. Friday, June 1. Interment will be private.
In place of flowers, please consider a donation in Kathleen’s name to Ephrata Area Social Services
To leave condolences, visit gravenorhomeforfunerals.com. Gravenor Home for Funerals, Ephrata, was entrusted with the arrangements.
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