Kathryn Ann Head

Funeral: 2:00 pm Friday, December 1, 2017 in Moore Funeral Home Chapel. Interment: 11:00 am Saturday, December 2, 2017 in Powers Chapel Cemetery (Falls County, TX).

She was a wonderful and loving mother, grandmother, aunt, mentor and friend. Kathryn was born on October 26, 1936 in Cameron, Texas. She grew up on her family’s farm near Calvert, Texas, and graduated valedictorian from Calvert High School. Kathryn graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in History. She obtained a Master of Liberal Arts degree with a concentration in English from Southern Methodist University.

Kathryn was an educator at heart and established a long and distinguished career in the field, working as a teacher and administrator with the ‘underprepared learner’ as she termed it. Much of this was during her 31 years with the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Kathryn was a leader in UTA’s SOAR Learning Services department nearly from its inception, serving as its Director for 27 years until her retirement from the university in 2009.

While Director, Kathryn was a public advocate for the disadvantaged student. She established Cost-Share Tutorial to help students who did not qualify for federal assistance, and authored the original McNair Scholars grant proposal to help qualified students prepare for graduate school and ultimately attain a doctoral degree. Under her leadership, UTA’s federally-funded TRIO programs were recognized in making pioneering strides in improving the retention and graduation rates of low-income, first generation and disabled students. She was honored for her efforts with the prestigious Arnold Mitchem TRIO Excellence and Leadership Award. Upon her retirement, the Kathryn Head Scholarship Endowment was established in her honor for TRIO and McNair Scholars and Student Support Services students.

Kathryn’s passion for education extended beyond UTA. In her later years, she served as a Board Member of H.O.P.E. Tutoring Center in Arlington and, earlier, on the Board of Arlington Youth Services. Kathryn was the University Representative for the Arlington branch of American Association of University Women, which provides scholarships to older, returning female students at UTA. She was also a past Board Member and in 2007 was selected as the branch’s “Outstanding Woman of the Year.”

Kathryn was an avid athlete, enjoying tennis, snow skiing, golf and bowling in her adult years and basketball and cheerleading in her student days. She was also an avid sports fan with a life-long love of watching sporting events, especially Texas Longhorn football, Rangers baseball and tennis championships.

Kathryn also enjoyed theatre-going, photography and traveling with her friends and family. Kathryn was an active and long-time member of the First United Methodist Church of Arlington, where she forged a large circle of close friends.

In addition to her many friends, Kathryn leaves behind her children Carol DeMatteo (Ed), Robert Head (Craig) and Susan Zeff (Joel), grandchildren Isabella and Zander Zeff, and nephew David McAbee (wife Kim and daughter Kiley).