Ms. Katherine Katie, "Little Bird" Erin Sheldon

January 13, 1982, was the best day of our lives. Katie arrived at 6:30 a.m. on a very snowy and stormy day. Washington, D.C. had 24 inches of snow that day. Even so we managed to get her home from the hospital in three days. She was a wonderful child, who never cried and always showed signs of courage, even when very young. When she was 2 years old, she had several serious illnesses in a row, including chicken pox and pneumonia. She was excited about starting kindergarten, and went off that first day with only a little trepidation. Throughout elementary school and junior high she participated in the team sports of basketball and softball. But her first love was dancing. Katie took lessons in ballet, tap, and jazz. She excelled in jazz and it became a lifelong joy for her. Katie attended Montgomery Blair High school in Silver Spring, Maryland, and graduated in 2000. She was on the dance team for the school in her freshman and sophomore years.

Katie always wanted to work from the time she was a young teen. We paid her for small jobs around the house, but she wanted to work outside the house. At 15 she was hired at an athletic shoe store and she learned a lot about business then. She continued working part time through high school and into college. She entered Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, in 2000 and graduated with an Associate Degree in legal studies in 2004. Katie started working at a law firm of Berman, Sobin, Gross, Feldman, and Darby, LLP, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She loved the staff she worked with and the work she did because she came to know the public servants (police officers, firemen, EMTs) who depended upon on the firm. She made many wonderful friends there.

Katie was so very kind. She loved all animals. She found an endangered 2-inch turtle at the beach when she was 6 years old, and raised it for 10 months until it was big enough to be released in a wildlife area. Katie had 3 pets which she dearly loved. They were all rescue animals – 2 cats and a little dog. She took great joy in caring for them.

Katie passed peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her beloved pets. Our Katherine was a beautiful person, inside and out. Our hearts are broken to have lost her. She gave us great joy. We wish you could have known her as we did. She will be buried near our home in Cypress, Texas.