Advertisement

Katharina Ermalee “Kathy” <I>Potter</I> Hopkins

Advertisement

Katharina Ermalee “Kathy” Potter Hopkins

Birth
Vernon County, Missouri, USA
Death
2 Aug 1976 (aged 39)
Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Kansas, USA
Burial
Hume, Bates County, Missouri, USA GPS-Latitude: 38.0932487, Longitude: -94.5821021
Memorial ID
View Source
I'd like to thank Deb for transferring my great-grandmother's memorial over to me!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
♡𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲♡

This memorial is a tribute to my great grandmother who was taken away from her family too soon.

Grandma Kathy was born in Vernon County, Missouri to John D Potter and Kathryn M Williams Potter. She was named after her grandmother, Katharina "Katie" (Appel-Frahm) Williams.

Both of her parents families have very rich histories to them. Her father's side, The Potters, could be traced to a man who was friends with President Lincoln. Her mother's side, the Williams, can supposedly be traced to welsh nobleman Marvin Fitzwilliams giving up his titles and running away with his beloved Nancy to the US to be together. But this interesting family history didn't make up for her early years however. Her parents had a rocky relationship that had many problems.

Her mother had mental health problems (She also self-diangosed and medicated) and due many things like shock therapy being a popular, Kathy's mom (called 'Grandma Miller' by her grandchildren) most likely struggled in silence. There many more problems with the marriage besides the bride's mental troubles: in 1934 John and Kathryn had a son named Donnel, sadly he passed away at 4 months old. The mental health issues and strain caused by the still recent death of a child caused them to separate.

Kathy's dad married a woman named Verta Ethel Sullivan. But Verta wasn't so happy with her new step-daughter and she supposedly forbid John from ever seeing her. John and Verta moved to El Dorado, together they had two sons Stephen and Randy. The two boys never knew about their half-sister but they always came to her hometown, Hume, for horseshoe throwing.

Then her mother met a man from Illinois who came to the Midwest for the farmland, his name was Ralph Waldo Miller. They didn't marry but Ralph did buy rings and Kathryn took his last name, there probably two reasons for this 1. Kathryn didn't want John to take Kathy away, 2. Kathryn was probably pregnant with Ralph's child. Ralph became Kathy's father figure. On January 13th Kathy got her little sister, Norma Jean (Jeannie). Kathy started to use Miller as her last name instead of Potter.

Kathy became smitten with a boy named Walter Herman Hopkins Jr and they married on December 1st, 1956.

She and Walter moved Madisonville, Kentucky with her parents-in-law and her sister-in-law. But then her father-in-law became unwell. He, like her father figure, came to Hume for the coalmines and ended up getting Black Lung, so they moved to Kansas City in hopes of him getting better. While there her and Walter had their first child, a daughter named Karen Jean. Four years later, they had another girl, Kelley Maxine, and then in 1965 they had their youngest child, Karla Sue. All their children got their middle names from family or friends. After Walter Sr passed in 1967, they moved back to Hume.

Kathy was a patient and quiet woman, which was the complete opposite to her darling Walter, who was loud and angry.

While her husband spent four of the five weekdays in Kansas City for his jobs, she made she sure the home was in order. She did all of this while keeping a good fashion sense, she always had her hair in curls. She was a sweet woman many would say: a loving wife, mother, sister, and sister-in-law. Although many saw her mother as 'not quite there' or 'crazy' due to her self-diagnosing and making it all about her, Kathy patiently listened to her. While she was at the doctor, they found a small speck... it was ovarian cancer.

The chemo made her sick, Grandma Karen recalled her laying in the back of the car on the ways back. Grandma Kathy never lost her hair, which could be seen as a blessing to many people going through chemo. Sadly the chemo didn't work and Kathy had a hysterectomy, but that didn't work as it spread. In her final days was being surrounded by family and her beloved husband was always by her side, but he had to return to work as they all knew that she wasn't going to make it.

Kathy was being taken care of by her mother-in-law Viola, Vi's daughter Edith told to go home because of how exhausted she was. Not that long after, Kathy passed at the old Fort Scott hospital. She and Walter were two months away from their 40th birthday and her eldest daughter Karen was also two months away from her 16th. Tragically, if Kathy got cancer at a later date she would still be alive today as cancer treatments have gotten better since the 70's. Her only grandson is named after her, one of her granddaughters is known to looking much like her, and her newest great-granddaughter was named after her.

She is the grandmother to four and great-grandmother to five, the youngest being born in early 2022 and named after her. Kathy was loved by all that met her and is deeply missed.

PARENTS:
John Donnell Potter (1904 - 1994)
Kathryn Margaret Williams Miller (1915 - 1998)

SIBLINGS:
Donnell Roy Potter (1934 - 1934)

HALF SIBLINGS:
Jeannie Miller Franklin (b. 1941)
Stephen John Potter (1942 - 2006)
Randy Dail Potter (b. 1953)

CHILDREN:
Karen Jean Hopkins McKinley (b. 1960)
Kelley Maxine Hopkins (b. 1964)
Karla Sue Hopkins Davidson (b.1967)
I'd like to thank Deb for transferring my great-grandmother's memorial over to me!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
♡𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲♡

This memorial is a tribute to my great grandmother who was taken away from her family too soon.

Grandma Kathy was born in Vernon County, Missouri to John D Potter and Kathryn M Williams Potter. She was named after her grandmother, Katharina "Katie" (Appel-Frahm) Williams.

Both of her parents families have very rich histories to them. Her father's side, The Potters, could be traced to a man who was friends with President Lincoln. Her mother's side, the Williams, can supposedly be traced to welsh nobleman Marvin Fitzwilliams giving up his titles and running away with his beloved Nancy to the US to be together. But this interesting family history didn't make up for her early years however. Her parents had a rocky relationship that had many problems.

Her mother had mental health problems (She also self-diangosed and medicated) and due many things like shock therapy being a popular, Kathy's mom (called 'Grandma Miller' by her grandchildren) most likely struggled in silence. There many more problems with the marriage besides the bride's mental troubles: in 1934 John and Kathryn had a son named Donnel, sadly he passed away at 4 months old. The mental health issues and strain caused by the still recent death of a child caused them to separate.

Kathy's dad married a woman named Verta Ethel Sullivan. But Verta wasn't so happy with her new step-daughter and she supposedly forbid John from ever seeing her. John and Verta moved to El Dorado, together they had two sons Stephen and Randy. The two boys never knew about their half-sister but they always came to her hometown, Hume, for horseshoe throwing.

Then her mother met a man from Illinois who came to the Midwest for the farmland, his name was Ralph Waldo Miller. They didn't marry but Ralph did buy rings and Kathryn took his last name, there probably two reasons for this 1. Kathryn didn't want John to take Kathy away, 2. Kathryn was probably pregnant with Ralph's child. Ralph became Kathy's father figure. On January 13th Kathy got her little sister, Norma Jean (Jeannie). Kathy started to use Miller as her last name instead of Potter.

Kathy became smitten with a boy named Walter Herman Hopkins Jr and they married on December 1st, 1956.

She and Walter moved Madisonville, Kentucky with her parents-in-law and her sister-in-law. But then her father-in-law became unwell. He, like her father figure, came to Hume for the coalmines and ended up getting Black Lung, so they moved to Kansas City in hopes of him getting better. While there her and Walter had their first child, a daughter named Karen Jean. Four years later, they had another girl, Kelley Maxine, and then in 1965 they had their youngest child, Karla Sue. All their children got their middle names from family or friends. After Walter Sr passed in 1967, they moved back to Hume.

Kathy was a patient and quiet woman, which was the complete opposite to her darling Walter, who was loud and angry.

While her husband spent four of the five weekdays in Kansas City for his jobs, she made she sure the home was in order. She did all of this while keeping a good fashion sense, she always had her hair in curls. She was a sweet woman many would say: a loving wife, mother, sister, and sister-in-law. Although many saw her mother as 'not quite there' or 'crazy' due to her self-diagnosing and making it all about her, Kathy patiently listened to her. While she was at the doctor, they found a small speck... it was ovarian cancer.

The chemo made her sick, Grandma Karen recalled her laying in the back of the car on the ways back. Grandma Kathy never lost her hair, which could be seen as a blessing to many people going through chemo. Sadly the chemo didn't work and Kathy had a hysterectomy, but that didn't work as it spread. In her final days was being surrounded by family and her beloved husband was always by her side, but he had to return to work as they all knew that she wasn't going to make it.

Kathy was being taken care of by her mother-in-law Viola, Vi's daughter Edith told to go home because of how exhausted she was. Not that long after, Kathy passed at the old Fort Scott hospital. She and Walter were two months away from their 40th birthday and her eldest daughter Karen was also two months away from her 16th. Tragically, if Kathy got cancer at a later date she would still be alive today as cancer treatments have gotten better since the 70's. Her only grandson is named after her, one of her granddaughters is known to looking much like her, and her newest great-granddaughter was named after her.

She is the grandmother to four and great-grandmother to five, the youngest being born in early 2022 and named after her. Kathy was loved by all that met her and is deeply missed.

PARENTS:
John Donnell Potter (1904 - 1994)
Kathryn Margaret Williams Miller (1915 - 1998)

SIBLINGS:
Donnell Roy Potter (1934 - 1934)

HALF SIBLINGS:
Jeannie Miller Franklin (b. 1941)
Stephen John Potter (1942 - 2006)
Randy Dail Potter (b. 1953)

CHILDREN:
Karen Jean Hopkins McKinley (b. 1960)
Kelley Maxine Hopkins (b. 1964)
Karla Sue Hopkins Davidson (b.1967)

Inscription

HOPKINS
Katharina E.
Oct. 5 1936
Aug. 2. 1976



Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement

  • Maintained by: W. R. Relative Great-grandchild
  • Originally Created by: Deb
  • Added: Sep 27, 2009
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42441177/katharina_ermalee-hopkins: accessed ), memorial page for Katharina Ermalee “Kathy” Potter Hopkins (5 Oct 1936–2 Aug 1976), Find a Grave Memorial ID 42441177, citing Hume Cemetery, Hume, Bates County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by W. R. (contributor 50537405).