Obituary of Kathleen Laney
Kathleen Laney passed from this life on November 29, 2021 at the age of 85. Born in 1936 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Kathleen was the youngest child of Bert and Essie Micholle. Her family moved to Atlanta a few years later and she would always consider herself a Georgia girl. She was still attending Sylvan Hills High School in Atlanta when she met Wilton Laney, her future husband and love of her life.
They married in 1952 and Wilton joined the Air Force. Kitty, as some of her friends and family had come to call her, thought of herself as the perfect Air Force wife because she loved to travel and was ready to move to someplace new at the drop of a hat. Wilton’s Air Force career took them to Colorado, Japan, Georgia, Hawaii, and finally Arizona. Along the way Kitty held secretarial and clerical positions at various Air Force bases while still managing to be a great Mom to her three children.
Kitty was a devout Catholic who was deeply committed to her faith. She had been a parishioner at St. Francis de Sales Church for many years and felt so blessed by the wonderful friends she had there. She loved music and was an exceptionally talented piano player. She was an avid reader who was rarely without a book at her side and her Thanksgiving cornbread dressing was legendary. She enthusiastically collected antique glassware – whether she had room for it or not – and loved nothing more than to go antique shopping to celebrate her birthdays. But her favorite pastime was being with the family she loved so much and in whom she took so much pride. They will all miss the wise, generous, affectionate, quick witted, hysterically funny, kind hearted woman who loved them so unconditionally.
Kitty is predeceased by her husband Wilton and her grandson Lee. She is survived by her daughters Donna (Leo) and Angela (Jack), her son John (Beth), her grandchildren Mark (Leanna), Julie, Laura (Richard), Valerie (Nic), Lance (Leyla), Robert, Serena (Sam), Alaric, and Charlene (Gene) and her great-granddaughters Alice, Claire, and Emily.
Flowers are welcome or contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
