Kathleen Elsa Kennedy

Kathy was born Nov. 20, 1950, in Corry, PA, to John and Patricia Kennedy.

Kathy attended Corry schools until her final year of high school. She graduated from Fairview High School in 1968 and attended Grove City College, where she majored in English Literature and graduated in 1972. She married Ronald Holstein and the couple moved to North Carolina, where, in addition to helping Ron restore antique furniture, she taught at the Irene B. Wortham Center for children with special needs in Asheville. In 1976, they moved to Fairview, to be closer to Kathy’s parents, and she worked at the Sarah Reed Retirement Center as Activities Director among many other jobs Ron and Kathy were avid antiquers, and started an antique business and refurnishing shop. They travelled widely in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York on their antiquing trips. She later moved to Erie and worked at Lake Erie Institute of Rehabilitation as a recreational therapist and was ordained a deacon at Sarah Hearn Presbyterian Church, where she also sang in the choir.

Kathy moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1987 to help brother Jerry, Professor of English at LSU with house remodeling. She soon earned a Master’s Degree at Louisiana State University and began teaching courses in anthropology at LSU. There, she met and married Kent Mathewson, a geography professor, and with him began an adventurous life of world travel to Central and South America, to Europe, and the Caribbean and the South Pacific. She also enjoyed her time as a stay-at-home mother, in addition to teaching Elderhostel classes, co-leading her daughter’s Girl Scout troop, being an active volunteer in the community and hosting many wonderful parties. She also served as an informal adviser to many graduate students in the department of Geography and Anthropology.

In 2011, Kathy became the primary caregiver to her father in Corry as he battled and eventually succumbed to cancer. She moved to Mayville, NY where she looked after her mother Patricia and daughter Mariana entered high school. They maintained a residence in Baton Rouge where Kent continued to teach until retirement. They were back and forth often. She took the utmost pride in restoring her dream home, the William Howell House, an 1822 brick Greek revival farmhouse on the outskirts of Mayville. In Mayville, Kathy made her mark in the community by hosting a Japanese exchange student, serving as Secretary of the Chautauqua Township Historical Society, volunteering for local Democratic Party and the Mayville Food Pantry, and was a member of the Tuesday Club. She and Kent continued to take memorable trips, including to Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama and Europe, and she remained fiercely committed to equality, women’s rights, and environmental justice. She enjoyed many hobbies, such as gardening, reading, and spending time with her beloved cats.

Kathy was preceded in death by her father, John, her mother Pat, and her younger brother, Chris, and nephew, Robert.

She is survived by her husband Kent; her daughter, Mariana Bernstein (Greg), grandson, Arthur, of Erie, PA; by her older brother, Jerry (Sarah) of Baton Rouge; and by her nephew, Benjamin, (Julie) and their children, Sam, Evelyn, and Miles, all of Charlottesville, VA; and by her sibling, Micah of Oakland CA; by her Kennedy cousins, Charles Michael of Corry and Thomas Allen (Linda) of Mechanicsville, VA, and by their children and grandchildren; and by her Platz cousins, Michael (Debbie) of Girard and Patrick (Karen) of Fairview, and their children and grandchildren.

In her final weeks, she came to the understanding that through exceptionally compassionate care from the staff at AseraCare Hospice and Manchester Commons, and through many wonderful interactions with friends, family and strangers, that “Love is all there is, and it’s more than enough.”

In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor can be made to Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, Westfield Stray Cat Rescue, the Mayville Food Pantry and the Erie Junior Philharmonic.

An outdoor and potentially irreverent celebration of Kathy’s life will take place sometime this summer.

Condolences may be expressed at www.edderfuneralhome.com.