Nov. 4, 1947—July 26, 2026

Katherine (“Kathy”) Laura Wilson passed away on Sunday, July 26, 2026, following a brief illness and a multi-decade fight against amyloidosis. She was married for 51 years to David “Dave” Wilson, who died exactly three years earlier in 2023.

Kathy was an advocate and student of the arts and humanities. Her concern for the welfare of others brought her to Mississippi in the 1960s to advocate for civil rights and to Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, in 2004 to record oral histories of a community that protected Jewish children during the Holocaust. She was a talented artist, painting in watercolor and sculpting in clay.

Kathy was born in Traverse City, Michigan, on November 4, 1947, to James Harold Hagen and Katherine “Kitty” Mitchell Hagen. From early childhood, she demonstrated what would be a lifelong love of animals, bringing home guinea pigs, chicks, and the occasional stray dog, as well as taking care of her horse. Kathy attended Traverse City Senior High School, where she was a member of the cheerleading squad and developed many lifelong friendships.

At Michigan State University, Kathy earned two bachelor’s degrees: in humanities and in German, with a minor in French. After graduation, she spent several months in Europe, financing the trip by selling her Volkswagen Beetle and working in a Swiss hotel, where she could practice both languages. She also worked for Lufthansa in New York, living in Kew Gardens, Queens.

Kathy and Dave were married in December 1971 and lived in Ann Arbor while he completed his MBA from the University of Michigan. After surviving some particularly harsh winters, they decided to move to the east coast of central Florida in 1978. There, she joined a guild of artists who came together to sculpt and paint and who were, on occasion, granted special access to launches of the then-new space shuttle. Kathy and Dave soon had a son, Eric, and a daughter, Katie. Kathy inspired a love of the arts, sciences, and travel in her children, through family vacation trips, regular visits to museums and science centers, and frequent trips to Disney World—in particular EPCOT, where they could interact with people from countries around the world.

Kathy was a fierce advocate for the arts and humanities in schools, regularly attending school board meetings to make her voice heard. She volunteered in schools as a student aide, assisting students with disabilities in navigating their classes, and when her own children were older, she taught French at Melbourne Central Catholic high school. In 1998, Kathy spent several weeks in Normandy, France, studying the history and collective memory of World War II on a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. She would return to France and Switzerland several more times over the years.

In 2003, Kathy was diagnosed with amyloidosis. Long before Morgan Freeman advertised treatments on television, amyloidosis wasn’t widely known, and she often found herself having to explain the disease to her doctors. She eventually found an expert team at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, that was able to slow the progression of the disease far longer than anyone initially expected. With frequent follow-up appointments at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, they eventually decided to move, in order to be closer to the clinic and to Katie. Always concerned about others, Kathy became involved in the amyloidosis support group, where she reassured newly-diagnosed patients that effective treatment is possible. After Dave passed away in 2023, she remained an active member of her community, adding two book clubs to her social scene. Throughout her medical treatment, Kathy was always interested in the personal stories of everyone she met, learning as much as she could about everyone from the doctors to the hospital’s janitorial staff.

Kathy was preceded in death by her husband, David Wilson; her parents, James Harold Hagen and Katherine "Kitty" Mitchell Hagen; and her brother, John Hagen.

She is survived by her children, Katherine "Katie" Wilson of Jacksonville, Florida, and Eric Wilson (Beth) of Sharon, Pennsylvania; her grandchildren, Alice and Lucy Wilson of Sharon, Pennsylvania; her brother, Jim Hagen (Jeff Oishi) of Minneapolis; her sister-in-law, Deirdre Mahoney of Traverse City; her brother-in-law, Jim Wilson (Char) of Traverse City; and many beloved family members, including nephews Jack Hagen (Kirsten McNeil) of Seward, Alaska, and Adam Wilson (Carolyn) along with their children Elijah and Jordan, of Traverse City.

A Memorial Service for Kathy will be held in Traverse City at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home with a light lunch to follow. Family will accept visitors an hour prior to the service, starting at 10:00 a.m.