Kathleen "Kathy" Berendt

On Friday May 22, 2026, Kathleen Mary Berendt (71), a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter and sister peacefully passed away in her home and went onto her heavenly reward surrounded by her loving family.

Kathy was born on April 10, 1955, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Earl and Leona (Amstadt) Curran. She attended and graduated from Hamilton High School in 1973 where she excelled in swimming, water ballet, cheerleading and art and went on to attend and graduate from hair and beauty school. Following graduation from beauty school, she worked for a hair and scalp clinic.

On October 2, 1976, she married Andrew Berendt. Together they welcomed son Adam in 1977 and daughter Heather in 1979.

Andy and Kathy were baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins on August 19, 1977, just 2 days before the birth of their son Adam. This began a life-long commitment to serving the Lord and teaching the gospel to the lost.

Kathy wholeheartedly dedicated her life to joyfully serving her family inside of her home and serving several congregations alongside Andy with his work as a minister of the gospel. In 1985, Andy and Kathy decided to leave Milwaukee, Wisconsin and move to the mountains of Colorado to begin a new congregation, the Peak View church of Christ, in Woodland Park while also running a barbeque restaurant named Choo-Choo Barbeque. Over the next 35 years, Kathy tirelessly stood beside Andy as he continued to preach and teach the lost in various places including Bedford, Ohio; Fultondale, Alabama; Grand Junction, Colorado; Waycross, Georgia; Butler, Alabama and Buckhorn, Mississippi. Andy and Kathy were a faithful team working together for the Lord and where one went, the other was also.

Kathy was a devoted wife to Andy for over 43 years. From the very beginning, Andy and Kathy loved the outdoors and spent some of their first dates target shooting with guns and bows. Together they shared a love for all forms of art. Kathy loved to scrimshaw on knives and jewelry that Andy made. They shared a love for Colorado and have countless memories of going cactus hunting, rock collecting, hiking the back of Pikes Peak and gun shooting. Like many couples who have been married for over 43 years, their vows of for “better or worse, richer or poorer and sickness and health” were tested and tried repeatedly through the years and yet they were together through it all. Sadly, their marriage ended on May 22, 2020, when Andy was called onto his reward in Heaven. Exactly 6 years later on May 22, 2026, Kathy took her last breath and went to meet her Lord and Savior face to face and is reunited with Andy again too.

Kathy was an amazing mother. The best word to describe her parenting was sacrifice. She constantly gave of herself for her family. Between her time, energy and finances, she would do anything for them. Even as adults, Adam and Heather always knew that Kathy was there with love, support and a listening ear for them whenever they needed it. When her children married and her family expanded, she welcomed Holley and Frederic into her family and always referred to them as her children.

Kathy loved to nurture plants, swim, create pottery pieces, scrimshaw, rescue and rehome dogs, care for the sick, entertain her friends and talk to everyone about her love for God. After Andy’s death, she worked for almost 4 years for the Blount & Curry Funeral Home in Carrollwood, Florida as a part-time funeral assistant helping families as they face the challenging times of grief.

With Adam, she and Andy taught him to love the outdoors and shooting guns. She loved to visit him and go thrifting with him. She would tell everyone that he was a City Councilman for Gardendale, Alabama and pass out his business cards whether they wanted one or not! Once she was in the small town of St. Petersburg, Kentucky, and she was talking to a stranger in a restaurant about her son being a City Councilmen in Gardendale, Alabama, and low and behold, she was actually talking to somebody that was from Gardendale and was even a school teacher for some of her grandchildren!

With Heather, she taught her how to embrace being a mother with joy and love and how to care for your husband and family. She and Heather did many crazy decorating projects together and Kathy would always happily tag along for homeschool field trips. Kathy was there for all of Heather’s births and Heather would say she couldn’t have a baby without her mother there because no one cared for her quite like Kathy.

Kathy had many hobbies that she enjoyed but nothing gave her as much joy as her grandchildren. They were her true joy, and you couldn’t talk to her for more than a few minutes without hearing her say “I have 10 of the most beautiful grandchildren on earth and one in Heaven!” while she was pulling out her phone to show you way too many pictures of them! Over the years, Kathy attended countless ball games, recitals and birthday parties for her 10 grandchildren. Kathy was a devoted grandmother that loved to host a tea party with her granddaughters, go to the park and play, build forts in the living room, set up tarp water slides in the summer, shop till she dropped with the girls, play football with the boys, make murals on the sidewalk with chalk, play countless games and host nightly bonfires with popcorn when we were all together. She had an unending supply of Play-Doh and closets full of blankets for forts and was known to rock the babies to sleep for hours with the biggest smile on her face. No baby was ever hungry or dirty around her. When the kids were sick, she was the best caregiver and would pamper you with homemade smoothie popsicles, orange juice and a VHS copy of Pollyanna till you were all better. The kids always had a blast with Mimi because she was a kid right along with them often getting everyone into trouble! The rules didn’t count at her house and there was no bedtime either! When she finally did put the kids to bed, she would entertain them with her countless stories about Mary, Ramey and all the weddings they attended and their adventures at Pinky’s! She also taught them to love God’s word and put it deep into their hearts. They truly are her love and legacy and even though she wanted to be with Papa again, she never wanted to leave them.

She is lovingly remembered by her son Adam (Holley) Berendt of Gardendale, Alabama, and their children Carter, Peyton (Juliana), Grayson and Chloe Berendt and daughter Heather (Frederic) Gray of Temple Terrace, Florida, and their children Noelani, Maleia, Malachi, Amairah, Gideon and Asher Gray.

She will also be remembered by her father Earl Curran, Sr. of Muskego, Wisconsin, and sister Christine (William) Duelge of Muskego, Wisconsin, and brother Earl (Laura) Curran, Jr. of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She also leaves behind brothers-in-law Joseph (Dawn) Berendt, Anthony (Vicky) Berendt and Gerard (Mary) Berendt all of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and sisters-in-law Susan Dietrich of Mundelein, Illinois, Mary Berendt of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nancy (Dennis) Meske of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and Jane (Mike) Meske of Zephyrhills, Florida, and many aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her loving husband Andrew Berendt (2020), mother Leona (Amstadt) Curran (2020), mother-in-law Margaret (Krucky) Berendt (1997), father-in-law Gordon Berendt (2021) and grandchild Noah Christian Gray (2013).

The celebration of life service for Kathleen Mary Berendt will be held on Tuesday, June 2nd at Blount & Curry Funeral Home - Carrollwood in Tampa, Florida. There will be a visitation from 2:00-3:00 pm followed by the service at 3:00 pm. Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 3207 W. Bearss Avenue, Tampa, FL 33618.

The service will be officiated by her son, Gardendale City Councilmen Adam Berendt and son-in-law, Frederic Gray.

For those that cannot attend and still wish to view it, the service will be live streamed. Adam Berendt and Frederic Gray will have the link posted on their Facebook pages on the date of the funeral.