PORT ORANGE – Kathleen “Kathy” (Dorn) Bracewell, 75, passed away at home on June 1, 2022. She was born on September 12, 1946, in Milwaukee, WI, and later moved to Wausau, WI, where she graduated East Wausau High School in 1964. Kathy then went on to attend nursing school in Milwaukee and worked as a nurse in both Milwaukee and Madison, WI, where she attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison studying Art and Sociology.
After the birth of her first son, Jonas, in 1973, Kathy managed a women’s cooperative while continuing her studies at UW-Madison as a single mom. In 1976 Kathy and Jonas moved to Port Orange, FL, where she would marry local plasterer Lamar Bracewell, with whom she was to have her second son, Brett Bracewell, in 1981. Kathy described being a mother as the best and most rewarding job she could ever want, and she was indeed a very good mother to her sons. Sadly, Kathy’s husband Lamar passed away in 1999 and she was once again a single mom to her son Brett, still at home.
After going back to school in the mid 1980s, Kathy received her degree from Daytona State College in 1987 and went to work locally as a Registered Nurse. A trained pianist and artist since she was a young girl, Kathy continued to practice her music and art and she found great joy in sharing it with both staff and residents in the skilled nursing and assisted living facilities where she worked for many years. In 2010, Kathy was forced to retire from full-time nursing due to her doctor’s orders following a hip replacement.
Still, Kathy continued her work part-time as an RN case manager and nurse supervisor in the years that followed. She also did some private duty nursing, caring for the elderly. It was work she enjoyed very much. Most of Kathy’s work as an RN over the years was in elder care. Due to her experience, skill, and talent in working with the elderly, Kathy also served as an instructor training other nurses and staff in how to care for patients and residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Kathy cared deeply about all of God’s creatures and nature itself. She despised war and was active in the antiwar movement in Madison in the late 1960s while her only brother Michael Dorn was serving in Vietnam. Following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Kathy once again felt the need to protest the war and work to bring the troops home. In 2005 Kathy founded the East Central Florida chapter of CODEPINK Women for Peace when the organization was still non-partisan and apolitical. She quickly organized a weekly antiwar demonstration in Daytona Beach, which ran uninterrupted for over 9 years.
Kathy also was a featured speaker on the subject of war and peace at events and public forums throughout Central Florida. In 2015, she was a repeat guest speaker at Stetson University as part of its presentations of the documentary The War At Home when Stetson’s History department was commemorating the 50th anniversary of our invasion of Vietnam.
Kathy was a longstanding member of Alcoholics Anonymous, first joining in 1972 in Madison, WI. After moving to Port Orange in 1976, she continued her membership in AA and found a home at Club YANA in Port Orange and the Wednesday Women’s group in Daytona Beach. Over the years, Kathy sponsored, mentored and helped many women in the fellowship, and her upbeat attitude and sense of humor brought laughter, joy and hope to many more seeking help. As a woman in recovery, Kathy proved herself to be a woman of dignity, honor and grace.
Kathy was predeceased by her husband Lamar Bracewell, her parents, Donald and Janet Dorn, and her brother, Michael Dorn. She is survived by her son and caregiver, Brett Bracewell of Port Orange, FL, her son Jonas Bracewell (Amy) and grandchildren Xander and Hayley Bracewell of Wesley Chapel, FL, her sister Amy Dorn Kemmesat (Dieter) of New Smyrna Beach, FL and her companion and friend Phil Restino of Port Orange, FL.
Rest in Peace Kathy, Rest in Peace Dear Friend
A memorial service with testimonies will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, July 9th at the Volusia Memorial Funeral Home, 4815 S. Clyde Morris Blvd, Port Orange, FL 32129. Considerations can be made to Kathy’s son and caregiver, Brett Bracewell, 1225 Thomasina Drive, Port Orange, FL 32129.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.VolusiaMemorialFuneral.com for the Bracewell family.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.17