Kathryn Lucille Whitney

Kathy was born in Ashland, KY, the second daughter of Walter and Hilda (Scott) Miranda. At the age of 16, she moved with her family to Rochester, Michigan, where she finished high school and worked at Cunningham Drug Store in downtown Detroit, a place that she reached by two long bus rides and a two mile walk. She returned to Kentucky to attend Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, where she completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and History. After graduation, Kathy joined a group from the Methodist church to become a missionary in Mozambique. Among her fellow travelers was a young man from Ann Arbor, MI who caught her attention, and held it through six months of language prep in Portugal and their three year commitment working with the mission – she as a teacher in a girls school, and he at a agricultural station which supported a boys school and pastoral training center, 25 miles away. Having become tired of just writing letters after all that time, they got together and got married. They were so enthusiastic that they did it twice in a row! (First day a civil ceremony, next day religious.) Gil still had her attention 60 years later.

Coming back to Michigan, Kathy and her husband Gil settled on his family’s dairy farm near Dexter, where Gil had grown up. Kathy became part of a farming family, kept the farm records, and spent a great deal of time raising her four children and, often, extra children staying at the farm. Eventually she decided to get paid for her child care and went back to school in her early 40’s and obtained her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. She was a teacher at The Discovery Center in Ann Arbor from its inception until her retirement. More than twenty years worth of Orange Room children had the pleasure of her company. After retirement she, along with two of her daughter-in-laws, owned and operated a home daycare, Down on the Farm. After three successful and fun years of running her own daycare, she experienced some vision loss. The decision was made to close the day care, and Kathy retired once again. In the following years she continued to lose vision and mobility, but still kept track of what was, and should be, happening in the household and when Gil was driving.

Kathy was active in her church, Webster United Church of Christ, over the course of many years, both locally and statewide and a participant in the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice.

Among varied interests over the years were playing the piano, travelling around the country (including their favorite place, Grand Marais, MI), walking, reading, going out on Friday night dates with Gil, putting together puzzles, playing games and gardening. While many of her activities were curtailed due to macular degeneration and arthritis, she continued to find pleasure in her family and listening to books on tape.

She was supportive and proud of her children and grandchildren, and her favorite times were spent hearing about the adventures they were having. She touched many lives in a positive and long lasting manner.

Kathy was a breast cancer survivor and had, through the years, endured several other health issues, including stroke. In each case she worked diligently to get herself back to as much health and independence as was possible. She faced the last illness the same way she faced all the rest, with courage and grace.

Kathy leaves behind her husband of 60 years, Gilbert L. Whitney; her children: Lynne Whitney (Merri Rose), Lyle Whitney (Carol), John Whitney (Donna), Nancy Whitney; grandchildren: Sophia Holsten (Matt), Stephen Whitney, Violet Whitney (Nick), Malaika Whitney (Matthew), Eben Whitney, Jennifer Whitney, and Tony Whitney; sisters Dorothy Esckelson, Joyce Thompson, Helen Hinton, and brother Walter Miranda, and her nieces and nephews: Anita, Bill, Dave, David, Dena, Doug, Janet, Jill, Laura, Lisa, Rick, Ruth, and Susan. She was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Hilda Miranda, and her sisters Ruth Rayburn and Carolyn Volley.

Per Kathy’s wishes, cremation has taken place. Visitation will be Wednesday, June 17th from 10am - 2pm and 4 - 8pm, at Hosmer-Muehlig Funeral Chapel in Dexter. A funeral service will take place Thursday, June 18th at1pm (with visitation from 11am to time of service) at Webster United Church of Christ (5484 Webster Church Rd., Dexter). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Webster United Church of Christ.