Kathryn Corrigan

Born in Atlanta on June 14, 1923, Kathryn grew up in a mansion on Spring Street, the daughter of homemaker Kathryn Lucille Manning and attorney George Thomas Stephens. She was the great granddaughter of Irish Catholic immigrant Michael Lynch who became a successful businessman as co-owner of Atlanta’s first bookstore, a gathering spot for anti-secessionists during the Civil War.

Kathryn was the oldest of five daughters (Mary Eleanor, Christine, Julia and Elizabeth) and younger brother George, Jr. The family lived briefly in Albany, Ga. during the early years of the Great Depression before returning to Atlanta where Kathryn graduated from North Fulton High School and earned a stenography certificate from the Atlanta Opportunity School.

Kathryn worked fulltime as an administrative assistant her entire adult life, including over 30 years at Eastman Kodak. She took pleasure in beating the salesmen in highly competitive games of bridge over lunch.

She was a quietly observant Catholic and a lifelong member of the Cathedral of Christ the King. As a young woman, Kathryn enjoyed going to soldier dances sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and later, spending time with her extended family.

In her 30s, she took pleasure in traveling with friends, including a memorable trip to Nassau. Because she was saving money for her wedding, she narrowly avoided going to Paris with the Atlanta group of art enthusiasts who died in the Orly plane crash.

She met her husband, Atlanta native and devout Catholic Louis W. Corrigan, Sr., at the Cathedral Club singles group, where she was an officer. They married in 1963 the day after President John F. Kennedy was killed. In 1965 she gave birth to her only son, Louis, Jr., between suffering several miscarriages.

Kathryn was a sweet and proper Southern woman, but she possessed a strong, private streak of independence and tenacity. In the 1960s, she became interested in contemporary art, including abstraction and pop, dabbling as an amateur painter and passing on this passion to her son. She taught herself how to invest in the stock market, buying her first stock at the age of 24, in 1947 when few women thought of such things. She was determined not to be poor and thought that women should make their own money and be educated.

She married late, at age 40, in part because she didn’t want a husband who would be her boss. When she proposed to Louis, Sr. and he said he didn’t make enough money to get married, she reassured him that she knew how to play the market and that they would have more money than they knew what to do with. When he was laid off from Atlanta Magazine shortly after their son was born, Kathryn became the family’s main breadwinner, supplementing their income by trading stocks.

After retiring in 1983, she enjoyed reading novels, swimming, and cultivating her passion for investing. She also spent nearly a decade successively taking care of her mother, aunt and husband. In her last years, her already close relationship with her son meaningfully deepened, and she showed an even greater capacity for joy, a sharp but earnest wit, and an inspiring sense of contentment.

Kathryn is predeceased by her husband and survived by her son and her sisters Christine Verner and Julia Blahnik.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 11 o'clock at the Catholic Cathedral of Christ The King. Interment will follow at Westview. The family will receive friends Monday evening March 14 from 6 until 8 o'clock at Spring Hill