Saying goodbye

Kathi Wagner and Steve Burns were Class of 1968’s Most Talented.

We’ve all heard anecdotal evidence that the dying sometimes “wait” to be given permission to die or wait until a special event such as a birthday. And it is sometimes after a visit with a son or daughter, the person dies soon after.

Such was the case with our friend, Kathi Wagner, who died on January 28th, 2013. In a previous post, I told you that Kathi had lived a long time with cancer. Her sister, Karen wrote “I knew she was leaving but she held on.” As it turned out, Kathi gave birth to a son, Marcus Reed (her only child with first husband, Willie Reed) who was born on January 28, 1976, six months to the day of her own birthday. Karen says that Kathi held on for Marc to drive to Modesto where she was living with her second husband Jim Feldstein. She felt at peace after the three of them (with their loving dog) celebrated Marc’s birthday. Kathi died the next day at 7:20 pm.

Kathi was called by FIVE different names during her lifetime. She was born Kathleen Ann Wagner and her family called her Kathy. By high school, she went by Kathi, as we knew her. Later she changed her name to Kat, and then Kathleen. Finally she went by Kate.

Kate and Jim ran a trailer park in Modesto and rescued people’s kittens where she knew the stray mom had gotten killed. Before that, she worked for years as a branch manager at Glendale Federal in Burbank and later Alhambra, and apparently “was so good with figures.” She also got a contract after high school and was a dancer in the Bahamas and later in Las Vegas where she met her second husband, who was a truck driver at the time.

We offer our condolences to Kathi Wagner’s family, in their time of loss.

Kathi Wagner is right in the front row of this Drill Team photo.