Kathryn M. Andrews

Kathryn was the daughter of George and Lilly Hanson. She was born in a farmhouse on the farm her Swedish grandparents farmsteaded. The farm was outside Enterprise, Kansas and her father farmed it until 1965.

Kathy attended a one-room school elementary school from the first grade through the fifth grade. Her sixth grade through freshman year she attended schools in Abilene Kansas finally finishing her last three

years of high school at Dickinson County High School in Chapman, Kansas. Her eighth-grade teacher taught Dwight Eisenhower. After graduating from high school, her mother’s sister, Elna Blom, brought her to Kansas City and helped her get a job. She saved her money and after a year, she enrolled in Kansas City Junior College graduating two years later with an art degree. This is where she met her first love, Denny Cowell. Soon after, they became engaged. She went on to complete one semester at the University of Kansas and then married Denny. The two were blessed with two sons, Steven and Scott.

They were married for twenty-seven years. During those years, Kathy always worked as the family moved to both Crystal Lake, Illinois and Little Rock, Arkansas ending up back in Overland Park, Kansas.

Kathy’s good friend Joyce Phelps, helped her obtain a job at the Brotherhood Railway Carman of America just off the Plaza. She ended up working twenty-four years at the railway union. When a secretarial job opened up in the General Secretary’s Office, Kathy applied and tested for the position. She was offered the job, a position she held for the majority of her working years at the Brotherhood. Her last two years she worked as a Secretary to the union’s General President.

In 1980 she married Rex Andrews and they were together for seventeen years. With this marriage, she became a part of his family. Rex’s daughter, Rexanne and her husband Bob Rowe, and their children, Scott and Lee Anne. It was Lee Anne that took the writings of Kathy and created and published her book, “Wiz Dumb in Old Age”. Something that she was very proud of and thankful for the love and time Lee Anne had put in.

She was also a china painter with some of her works located at the Governor’s Mansion in Topeka, Kansas. Well known for making her own greeting cards, many a Kansas Citian has sent a friend or family member one of her cards.

In the late 1990’s, she joined the Knox Presbyterian Church, a church she loved and cherished. She loved the wonderful sermons given by Tim Wagnor and felt the church had been one of her life’s greatest blessings. Throughout her time at the church, Kathy helped in the church office, helped feed the poor and was a Stephen Minister for two years. Her later relationship with Fred Daniels and Christine Brooks strengthened her love for the church.

Kathy was gifted with three wonderful grandchildren, Briana, Joshua and Ben Cowell. Through the marriage of Joshua and Chrissy Cowell, she was gifted with a great-grandchild, Charlotte Carolina Cowell. Her brother’s children have also been a prominent part of her life. Jan was always there when needed, Jeff was always calling to see how she was, and Jo, a Missouri State Representative, spoke in front of the Missouri Legislature on Kathy’s life accomplishments. She loved them. Scott, her youngest son, was her Earth Angel. From checking on her every day, making sure she had plenty of food and taking her to doctor’s appointment, he made sure her needs were taken care of. Kathy passed on looking forward to gathering again with her lost friends and family. Her two sons believe she is now playing bridge, laughing, drinking coca cola and eating potato chips with french onion dip alongside her best friends Geri Holmes, Joyce Phelps and Althea Lockwood. Her family and friends left behind on this Earth will miss her greatly.

A graveside urn committal service for Kathryn will be held Saturday, June 29, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM at Mount Moriah Cemetery South, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64131.