Katherine "Katt" L. Lutz

Katherine (Adams) Lutz was born on March 22nd, 1936 in a small house on 38th and High Street in Denver, Colorado. “My mom said it was a snowy day” Katt recalls. Her parents, Florence and Lee Adams, had three other children besides Katt, two older daughters and a younger son. Katt remembers fondly growing up on the east side of Denver, moving from the 38th and High house to the 32nd and Arapahoe to 34th and Downing. Katt says she was a daddy’s girl and enjoyed helping her dad saw logs by sitting on the other end while he did all the work. “I really wasn’t much help but it was fun.” Katt’s childhood was a happy one. She remembers a baby doll buggy that her father had to put back together many times and her mother had to help her sew new pieces onto it to keep the basket in right. Her aunt, who had all boys, would have Katt over often, giving Katt the experience of milking cows, avoiding snaking, squirting kittens and irritating her cousins. Being on a farm around boys, Katt spent a lot of time with her uncle’s oil can, mending her bug bites, scrapes, bumps and bruises.

In 1954 Katt graduated high school. “I had D-‘s all the way through except in photography and psychology. I got by by the skin of my teeth.” Katt met her first husband, Robert Miller, that year, and was married the next year. In October of 1956 their daughter, Miriam was born followed by David in April of 1958. Katt’s marriage to Robert was short lived, but her love for her kids was strong so Katt did odd jobs to make ends meet. In 1964 Kat was remarried to a man named Raymond Lutz. After a brief stay in California, where Katt’s third son Mike was born, Katt and family moved back to Colorado. In 1968, Katt was pregnant again with her third son Darrell, who was born January of 1969. Before Katt could stop, she got pregnant one last time with her second daughter, and the baby of the family, Maureen, who was born June of 1970. Though Katt says raising her kids came fairly easy to her, none of her kids were the same and came with their own stories. “I used to sing on the front porch every morning as they walked away to school. They could hear me a block down and on the other side of the street.” Her stories of winning roller limbo contests, taking the kids to the movies, and spending time on the beach with her kids still rang fresh in her mind.

A few years after losing her second husband, Katt agreed to go on a date with Wren Pace, a family friend. Wren soon became close to Katt’s heart and soul, and prior to Wren’s passing, the couple had been together for over 27 years. Katt now and forever sports a “heart-filled” symbol of their love on her arm, which was preceded by a “Don’t hurt my Grandma!” shouted at the tattoo artist. “We made a pact that when we die we will wait for each other and we will find our dogs and we will fly over the city to all the places we have been and have wanted to go” Katt tells with a smile. She also claims that he is the only man that she ever peeled an onion for. They happily shared a room together, keeping each other company and reminding each other of days to come.

Katt has a love for animals and holds special love for her dog, Kittie, and her cat, Mercedes. Her current room is filled with pictures of pets past, stuffed animals, figurines and bird sounding clocks. Katt loved spending time putting together puzzles, getting goodies from the ice cream parlor, reading the daily newspaper and socializing with staff and neighbors. She continued to find motivation for life and shared that motivation with those around her. If you asked her today how she is, Katt would want you to know “I’m happy and where I’m supposed to be.”

Visitation will be from 3-6pm on Saturday, September 22, 2018 with services at 11:00am on Sunday, September 23 and burial to follow, all at Olinger Crown Hill.