Kathryn Nauman

Kathryn (Kathy) Arlene Nauman 71, passed away on Thursday, December 29,2022.

In Linda Ellis’ poem ‘The Dash’ she writes: He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke the following date with tears, but said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

Kathy's dash is as follows:

Born in Atkins, Arkansas the youngest of five children, she lived the life of the typical small town rural Baby Boomer. She had fond memories of working at the family grocery store, being taught by nuns at the local Catholic grade school, and attending Sacred Heart High School in Morrilton.

At 16 years of age her whole world got bigger when she went to Switzerland as part of a national school trip. Being the late 60s this meant an ocean crossing on a ship. Now Kathy, was never a fan of ships or water, but for over a week at sea she endured. Once in Switzerland she did all thing Swiss: made hot chocolate, milked cows, and yodeled. This trip would be something she talked about throughout her life.

She attended Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway where she majored in English before heading to Little Rock and UALR for her Masters in Social Work and then meeting the love of her life at a Catholic Singles party behind McCain Mall.

Tom somehow convinced this Southern Belle to follow him to the great white north of Illinois. Tom assured her that it never snows around Thanksgiving so imagine her surprise when she awoke to a blizzard on her wedding day, November 29, 1975. In 1977, she would have her first child followed by two more in ‘79 and ‘80.

The years in Illinois were filled with hospital work, building a new house in Metamora, and finding a natural way to family plan. In the basement of an old home in Peoria, IL, Tom and Kathy would learn and then decide to teach this new form of family planning. Natural Family Planning and the Couple-to-Couple League would play key roles in Kathy’s life for the next three decades. In Arkansas it is estimated that they would teach over 3,000 couples across the state. CCL would hold a national conference every other year as a way to further the mission, teach new methods, and family togetherness. Kathy decided that these conventions would make for great family vacations. So that is what the family did every other summer; load up the station wagon and head out to such far off places as Baltimore, MD, Grand Rapids, MI, Champaign, IL, Colorado Springs, CO, and even Conway, AR. That’s right, through hard work, prayer, and her don’t take no for an answer way, she and Tom would grow Arkansas to over 25 teaching couples before they retired in the early 2010s; more than enough to help put on a convention of their own. During the hot summer of 2006 families from across the country descended on UCA in Conway. After a lot of blood, sweat, tears, a few lost kids, and a new grandchild, Kathy had pulled off the best convention to date.

Kathy’s Southern homecoming came in 1982 when Tom took a Job with Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In ‘85 and ‘89 the family grew yet again. They would eventually settle into the forever house that was never meant to be that. It is in this home she would find her great calling and became a full time stay at home mom.

Unhappy with the state rules of enrolling your child in a school at age 5, she signed her son up to “homeschool”, with the intention of sending him to school the following year. But after an accidental delivery of school books for all children and much prayer, she would decide to home school four of her children, before it was cool; each one excelling in their chosen field.

A cradle Catholic she was never one to take her faith for granted. She was always reading, teaching, or praying whether in front of her home altar, adoration, or at Mass. She raised her family on a healthy fear of God and fish sticks during Lent.

Starting in the early 90s she and Tom decided to start attending the traditional Latin Mass being held at the time at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. What started out as a few times a month would eventually end up as a life changing event. Along the way the small community would move from the Cathedral to St. John’s at the Diocese, St. Mary's and St. Pat’s in NLR, and now to Cabot. During this time Kathy could be found ironing altar linens, making flower arrangements, cleaning the church, in charge of after Mass lunches, church secretary, and trusted advisor and counsel. Kathy left her fingerprints all over her church community and family.

Throughout all of this she continued to watch her family grow. In 2005 she became a grandmother for the first time with the most recent being born in September of 2022.

Always the avid reader she enjoyed trips to the bookstore and library. She was never far from a crossword puzzle and with the creation of Google she became quite good at solving them.

In mid 2021, life gave her a new challenge; during a routine doctors visit it was discovered she had cancer. She knew that it would be an uphill battle, but it was one she was up for. Her biggest concern was her hair falling out. Never a vain person, she was afraid to let anyone see her without hair. A trip to the hat shop and several visits to Ebay brought the hat parade and vintage head wraps that would solve this problem. Numerous treatments at CARTI and several stays in the hospital finally took their toll. She was tired and wanted to go home.

So, when you visit her grave and see the dates 1951-2022 now you will know what that dash really was.

She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Thomas Eugene; her five children, Scott (Amori), Sarah (David) Whitehead, Melissa (Shawn) Bailes, Michael, and Steven (Andrea); sister, Carole Schwander; sister-in-law, Julia Sorrels; and 17 grandchildren.

She is proceeded in death by her parents Wm. Arlie and Catherine Appolonia; two brothers, William Allen and Robert Wayne Sorrels; sister, Janet Kay Sorrels; and three grandchildren due to miscarriage.

Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Cabot, at 10 in the morning with interment at Atkins Catholic Cemetery at 2:30, on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00pm with a Rosary at 7:00pm on Monday, January 2, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Cabot, AR.

Her family would like to thank the countless nurses and doctors at CARTI, Baptist Health, and St. Vincent CHI.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to either St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Cabot, The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, or Arkansas Right to Life.

We, your family, love and miss you!