Kathryn Roberta Drake

Kathryn Roberta (King) Drake of Roseville, Michigan, passed away Thursday, October 26th, 2023 at the age of 82. She is survived by her two children, David Drake and Sharon (Thomas) Nummer; and her four dear grandchildren: Sydney Nummer, Mitch Nummer, Carson Drake, and Brenna Drake, as well as her sister Nona Slate, nephew Gary (Tracy) Slate, niece Kim King, and nephew Tom King.

Kathy grew up in Detroit, then moved to Fraser when she was in 9th grade and graduated from Fraser High School in 1958. She spent the majority of her career as a talented bookkeeper. She worked for a few different companies throughout her career including Jay Electric, Broder Brothers, and Novatron, where she retired in 2006. Always a hard worker, she also picked up other jobs at times to help make ends meet when needed, including working as a mail carrier, waitress, and seasonal retail worker at Kohls and Tiffany’s. She even tried self-employment for a while when she owned and operated a resale shop in St. Clair Shores during the late 1980’s / early 1990’s.

Kathy belonged to a Methodist Church in Detroit during her youth, and then began attending Redeemer United Methodist Church in the early 1960’s where she continued attending until 2023. Actively involved with the congregation, she volunteered with various projects through the years, including the planning and management of the annual mother & daughter banquet, and she also enjoyed working as a volunteer at the Thrift Shop. She sang in Redeemer’s Vocal Choir with her kids during the 1980’s and 90’s.

Kathy enjoyed bowling during her younger years and also spent some time involved with a Community Theatre group called The Greasepaint Players, where most of her contributions were given behind-the-scenes. She used to jokingly refer to herself as a “Backrow Big Mouth,” because she liked being involved with directing – but never really wanted to be on stage herself. She found the most joy by being a dependable member of the audience for all of her kids’ and grandkids’ many musical and theatrical performances, as well as sporting events. Kathy enjoyed playing card games, including Pinnacle, Euchre, and Spider Solitaire. As a homeowner, she was a true do-it-yourselfer and tackled the project of putting up new siding on her own house two separate times (aluminum siding the first time, and then replaced that with vinyl siding)! The first time was in the early 1980’s and people were driving by to see for themselves that this woman was doing her own aluminum siding project!

She was a strong, independent woman who was also generous, thoughtful, fun and outgoing! She could strike up a conversation with a stranger anytime and anyplace! She was the best mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, and co-worker. She will be missed by all who knew her.

A Memorial Service to celebrate the completion of her life well-lived will be held at Redeemer United Methodist Church at 20571 Vernier Road, Harper Woods, MI 48225 on Sunday, November 5th at 1:00 PM.

Please consider sharing a memory with the family on Kathy’s online guestbook.