Kathleen Diane Smithback

Kathleen Diane Smithback, 56, of Littleton, Colorado unexpectantly passed away early Saturday morning, December 7, 2019. She is preceded in death by her father, Billy Smithback, and both sets of grandparents, Norman and Rose Smithback and Clyde and Ethel Brickley. She is survived by her mother, Irene Smithback, and first cousins, Clayton and Mark Bruce, and Robin Ellis, all residents of Colorado and Bobby Norton of Kansas and Ross Brickley of North Carolina and a host of other cousins and friends.

Kathleen was born on October 2, 1963 in Anthony, Kansas. She lived with her parents in various towns in Kansas during her toddler years and eventually by the age of five was settled in her childhood home in Littleton, Colorado where she lived with her mom at the time of her passing. She graduated from Littleton High School in 1983, having also attended Centennial Elementary School and Euclid Middle School for eighth and ninth grade. In school she was active in choir and her church youth group.

Kathleen’s epilepsy did not keep her from enjoying her life. Although her seizures prevented gainful employment, she enriched her life with volunteer opportunities. She volunteered at the Littleton Manor Nursing Home for several years, assisting clients who needed help feeding themselves and helping the recreation director with activities. She also knitted scarves for the homeless, stopping only a few years ago due to unresolved pain from a broken shoulder incurred from one of her seizures. Kathleen’s absolute love though was the volunteer work she did at her childhood school, Centennial Elementary School! She volunteered for 21 years there. She started out working in the library but soon was asked to work directly with teachers helping them with some of the everyday activities like xeroxing papers, giving spelling tests, and being the “go to” person to run errands within the school. She was very proud of the work she did as “Miss Kathleen” and she loved the children. She left this volunteer job sadly due to a new principal refusing to let her continue, saying her seizures were a liability. Her family will always be indebted to her former principals and teachers for their acceptance of Kathleen and letting her share her talents all those years with them.

After her volunteer life ended, Kathleen kept busy. She would join her mom for a day of window shopping and lunch at local malls, often meeting a friend or family member there too. She loved going out to eat and had many other interests. She enjoyed travel including Washington D.C. twice, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Missouri, three trips to Canada, and Kansas to visit family. Kathleen loved watching the Olympics, baseball, and hockey on tv. She was very good at sports trivia! She enjoyed going to local plays and musicals and watching old movies, musicals, soap operas, and game shows. Another favorite pastime of hers was playing all kinds of games with others like cards, Dominoes, Backgammon, and board games. She also enjoyed her Kindle using it to play games, listen to audiobooks and music, communicate through social media with friends and family, watch programs and to color and do needlepoint pictures. She enjoyed collecting souvenir spoons and thimbles, movies, and teddy bears.

Although Kathleen’s seizures and health in the last few years kept her more homebound, she was content and never bored.

Kathleen's vibrant friendly fun-loving sweet nature will be deeply missed by her mom, cousins, and lifelong friends.

A Memorial Service for Kathleen will be on January 11, 2020 at 2:00 pm at Valley View Christian Church.

(11004 Wildfield Ln., Littleton, CO 80125)