Kathy Moore Howell, 72, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family on Saturday, April 23.  She was born January 9, 1944 to Roger and Lenore Moore.  They preceded her in death.  She graduated from Lanphier High School in 1962 and married Ron Howell on May 9, 1964. Kathy was employed as the Executive Director of Kumler Neighborhood Ministries, retiring in 2002.  She is survived by her husband Ron, daughters, Jennifer (Steve) Allen and Jodie (John) Chapman, 7 grandchildren Michael Chapman, Jeffrey (Kaity) Prince, Sarah Chapman, Carrie Allen, Arielle Chapman, Arionne Chapman, Gwendolyn Chapman and one great grandson Xavier Prince, sister Meg (Hal) Smith, brother John Moore, and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

But Kathy was so much more than just those statistics listed above. She was a loving wife for 52 years, a wonderful mother and a proud grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved her family dearly and made sure she was a part of their lives without controlling their lives. She helped teach choreography for musicals at Tri-City High School, brought crock pots of food to feed the kids at practice, cheered them on at track meets, and supported them in all their endeavors. She taught the girls how to knit and sew and loved baking cookies with the grandkids. Although she couldn’t sing, a huge amount of time was spent snuggling with the grandkids while she sang You Are My Sunshine or Grandma’s Baby to the tune of Brahms Lullaby with some unusual key changes.  She tried to instill in Jennifer and Jodie her love of flowers and gardening, but that turned out to be one of the few things in life where she failed.  Evidently, green thumbs are not hereditary.

Early on, Kathy was a fierce advocate for those who were less fortunate.  While still in high school, she found time in her busy schedule to volunteer at Hope School reading to the blind children.  When she was not volunteering, she was at Mildred Caskey’s School of Dance several hours a week and was a member of Copper Coin Ballet, the predecessor of the Springfield Ballet Company.  Kathy was a very talented dancer and appeared in many productions at The Muni and Springfield Theatre Center. Somehow, she still found time to be Leo, the Lion, Lanphier’s school mascot.

She gave up her dreams of Broadway and the Rockettes and married Ron in 1964. She devoted the next few years of her life to the tasks of motherhood, but once Jennifer and Jodie were in school full time, the urge to serve returned and she began volunteering for Head Start.  In 1977, Kathy and the pastor’s wife at Kumler United Methodist Church recognized that several of the elderly residents in the neighborhood weren’t getting enough to eat and organized a group of volunteers to fix meals to supplement their diet. They also started collecting canned goods to distribute to those in need. That was the humble beginnings of Kumler Neighborhood Ministries. As additional needs were identified, new services were added and Kathy found her calling in life as the Director. Eventually, the agency included a mentoring program for children from McClernand Grade School, an indigent pharmaceutical program, emergency prescription services, a baby layette program, Christmas assistance and a crisis closet to provide clothing for children and adults. From a few canned goods under the kitchen sink, the program grew to a yearly budget in excess of $500,000 the year that she was forced to retire because of health issues.

Kathy didn’t know a stranger and she treated everyone with the same respect and understanding, from U.S. Senators who came to ask about the programs to the street person dressed in a white gown who claimed he was the bride of Jesus.  However, she was kind of upset with the guy that called her ‘Miss Saint Son of a Bitch’ when she refused to give him money.   She spoke to civic groups, clubs and churches throughout central Illinois in a tireless effort to raise money to help as many people as possible.  Two family members chose social work as a career because of Kathy’s example and dedication.

Kathy recognized early on that charitable organizations alone couldn’t meet the ever-growing need and she spent numerous hours testifying before the Illinois Legislature on issues relating to poverty and worked with many groups throughout central Illinois to help them start similar programs in their communities.  Kathy was a founding board member of the Central Illinois Foodbank and the Illinois Hunger Coalition.  She also served on the board of Contact Ministries and helped create the Resource Providers Group.

For her efforts, she was honored by the YWCA as ‘Woman of The Year’ in 1984 and was named ‘Citizen of The Year’ in 1989 by the Springfield District of National Association of Social Workers.  In 1995, in recognition of her humanitarian work, she was the first woman inducted into the Lanphier High School Hall of Fame.

Kathy didn’t rest for too long after retirement.  She was forced to retire when she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a form of arthritis that affects the muscles and that opened up new opportunities for her to serve.  She became a board member of the local Arthritis Foundation and organized workshops for those people dealing with fibromyalgia.  While vacationing in Guatemala one winter, she learned that a school near where we were staying had very few books.  With the help of Jennifer, who had contacts in the publishing field, we were able to collect Spanish language books and school supplies and established a library in San Jorge, Solala, Guatemala. 

A local newspaper interviewed her back in 1989 and she talked about how difficult it is for social workers to insulate their private lives from their jobs.  She said,  “It took me several years but now, when I walk out this door, I leave the job here.  I have never lost compassion for the people we help, but at times, what I see is so devastating that I’ve become harder over the years. Still, it’s always a good feeling to know that a child has been fed, that someone has a warm home or has been able to get the prescription they need to stay alive.”

Her family finds comfort in knowing that she touched the lives of thousands and thousands of people; not only the recipients of those programs but the many volunteers that worked with her over the years;  many of their lives were changed also.  The programs and services she started so many years ago are still assisting those less fortunate.  We should all be so lucky to leave a legacy like Kathy’s; that Springfield and the surrounding area are better because she was among us for a time.  Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Visitation will be from 4-7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at Ellinger-Kunz & Park Funeral Home.  Additional visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the funeral service at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at Laurel United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Kent Lolling officiating.  Cremation will follow services.

Memorial contributions may be made to Kumler Neighborhood Ministries or American Cancer Society.

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