Kathleen Ann Davidson

She had suffered a cardiac event two days earlier in Payson while celebrating her 54th wedding anniversary with her adoring husband, Tom.

Kathy was born on November 13, 1945, in Altoona, PA, to Leo and Mary Grace (Martin) Langguth. She graduated from Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona and the Pennsylvania State University before embarking on a career in teaching. She was an amazing teacher, coach, friend, mentor, wife, mother, and grandmother. She always had time and energy to help anyone who needed it, and she touched thousands of lives through her teaching and coaching.

Kathy’s first teaching jobs were in South Carolina while Tom was in the US Navy. She taught in schools in Philadelphia until the family moved to Wisconsin in 1978. Kathy taught math and coached soccer and basketball at Pius XI Catholic High School in Milwaukee for 15 years. She had an extraordinarily impactful tenure at Pius and served as the chair of the Math Department. She enjoyed tremendous success as the head coach of the girls' varsity soccer and girls' junior varsity basketball teams. Her soccer teams won 4 consecutive state championships from 1989-1992, and her coaching career earned her induction into the Pius XI Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.

Kathy and Tom then moved to Scottsdale, where Kathy taught at Xavier High School in Phoenix and Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale. There, she continued her legacy of coaching and teaching excellence: she co-coached the Xavier Girls Soccer team to State Championships in 1994 and 1995, and was selected by the Arizona Tribune for the 1997 Educational Leadership Award for the Scottsdale School District. In 1998, Tom & Kathy moved back east to Blue Bell, PA. Kathy chaired the math department at Chestnut Hill Academy and earned yet another teaching honor. The Philadelphia Society of Engineers named her the Outstanding Math Teacher in Philadelphia in 2009. That year the Delaware Valley Society of Engineers also named her the Outstanding Math Teacher in the Delaware Valley (SE Pennsylvania, Southern NJ, and Northern DE).

When Kathy retired from teaching in 2013, she and Tom moved back to Arizona, settling in San Tan Valley. She was never fully retired, though, as she spent countless hours tutoring her grandchildren in math whenever they asked.

In retirement, Kathy stayed active as a member of the Silver Sneakers exercise group, and she enjoyed playing golf regularly. In February of this year, she achieved every golfer’s dream by making a hole in one while playing with friends at Augusta Ranch Golf Club. Kathy enjoyed traveling with Tom, including a transatlantic cruise in April to Rome. Her greatest passion was for her seven grandchildren, each of whose lives will be forever blessed by their time with her. She was deeply invested in their lives, from helping with schoolwork to attending their ball games to learning about their interests and hobbies. Her generosity and love had no end.

Kathy is survived by her husband, Tom; her two children T.R. Davidson (Jennine) of Gilbert and Kristin Fontenot (Gray) of Falls Church, Virginia; her grandchildren Kyle, Catheryn, Caleb, and Selina Davidson of Arizona and Tyler, Ryan, and Kathleen “Kate” Fontenot of Virginia; and her siblings Richard Langguth (Carol) of Chantilly, VA, Eileen Schlecht of Bechtelsville, PA, and Donald Langguth (Cindy) of Bristow, VA. Kathy was preceded in death by her brother-in-law, Ronald Schlecht.

Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation at Mariposa Gardens (6747 E. Broadway Rd, Mesa) on Thursday, August 3 from 4 pm until 8 pm, with prayers and expressions of remembrance at 6pm. A funeral mass will be held at St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in San Tan Valley at 10am on Friday, August 4. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Kathy Davidson Scholarship Fund at Pius XI Catholic High School, 135 N. 76th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53213.