Kathryn Clemans

Kathryn Hodgson Clemans, daughter of Dr. Ivan E. and Ariel S. Hodgson, was born on May 7, 1941 in Lawton, MI outside Kalamazoo. Born into a family of clergy, her father being a Methodist minister, she grew up across southeast Michigan as she traveled with her father’s theological assignments; places including Lawton, Highland Park, Detroit, Northville, and Adrian, MI.

Her most formative high school years were spent happily in Northville, MI until her final family move to Adrian, MI where she completed her senior year. She was a graduate of Adrian High School in 1958.

Later she attended undergraduate studies at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with a major in English and a minor in Spanish. She later received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Central Michigan University.

She married fellow educator Larry E. Clemans in 1962 upon their graduation from Asbury College and settled in Clawson, MI where they both established careers in education. She first taught English in the Royal Oak School District at Kimball High School. Following a move to Shelby Township and spending some years at home with her boys, she re-entered teaching in the Utica Community School District spending the majority of her career teaching Spanish at Eisenhower High School.

For several years Kathryn spent evenings and weekends teaching English, reading, and writing classes in various automotive plants in the area. This experience encouraged her to branch out into other areas of education. For many years she was a Professor of Business at Baker College in both Flint and Auburn Hills, MI.

She was a director on the board of Tri-County Bancorp in Brown City, MI for six years succeeding her mother, Ariel, in the same position. Her grandfather, Christian E. Schoenhals, was one of four businessmen who founded the Brown City Savings Bank (now Tri-County Bank) after the Depression.

Kathy was a lover of family, travel, and fine arts. She enjoyed time spent with her grandchildren and family at her cottage in MI and traveled frequently to visit her brother in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. Fun times were also shared with her family travelling to Spain and Hawaii. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of Arts were important cultural interests to her. It was the DIA where she found a passionate interest in Diego Rivera, his works, and his culture which she shared annually with her college students. After teaching Spanish for almost 20 years, that language and its cultures became very important to her. She was a lover of all things Great Lakes. The beachside towns, the freighters, many of which she knew by name, and the lighthouses.

She is survived by two sons and their spouses, Timothy E. and Shannon K. Clemans of Rochester Hills, MI, and David C. and Rebecca R. Clemans of Birmingham, MI; four grandchildren, Christian and Claire Clemans, and William and Kathryn Clemans; former husband Larry E. Clemans; her brother and his spouse, Ivan L. Hodgson and Larry V. Pulliam of San Francisco, CA; her sister, Barbara J. Nishikawa of Los Angeles, CA; and her nieces, Vanessa C. Hodgson of San Francisco, CA and Nicole M. Hodgson of Pasadena, CA.

Funeral services will be at 12:00 p.m. Saturday, November 6, 2021 at Pixley Funeral Home in Rochester, MI. A visitation will precede the service from 11:00 – 12:00 p.m.

Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Brown City, MI alongside her parents, grandparents, and extended family.

In lieu of flowers, one-time donations may be made in Kathy’s memory to one of the following important organizations in her life.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra https://tickets.dso.org/support/donate

Detroit Institute of Arts https://www.dia.org/support/donate/tribute-memorial-giving