Katherine Sue Willoughby

Katherine Willoughby, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt died peacefully in her home in West Palm Beach, FL. She was 81 years old. Katherine was born in 1941 in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Bloomfield Hills by parents Dr. Russell and Dorothy Wright. The youngest of three children, she attended high school in Italy, which sparked a lifelong talent for cooking with lots of garlic and olive oil. Katherine majored in art history and social work at the University of Michigan, where she met former husband Jan Willoughby, with whom she had two sons.

She raised her boys in Ft. Lauderdale and worked at the Red Cross and Salvation Army. She attended First Lutheran Church of Ft Lauderdale. Katherine earned a Master of Social Work degree at Barry University and served as a mental health counselor for children with emotional and behavioral disabilities at Whispering Pines School. A lifelong advocate for the environment, immigrants, the homeless, and underserved, Katherine fostered Ti, a young Vietnamese immigrant, and treated her like family. Katherine was an introvert yet wasn’t afraid to speak her mind; she never used paper towels or sponges in her kitchen and chastised those who dared bring them into her home. She would frequent the McDonald’s drive thru for cheeseburgers for her 80-pound dog Rugby. Katherine’s hobbies included tennis, swimming, walking her dog, backgammon, thrift store shopping, and voracious reading. She founded Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Highlands, North Carolina, to share her love of books with others and escape the Florida summer. She spent many hours reading the Wall Street Journal.

Katherine is preceded in death by her brother Richard, and her former husband Jan. She is survived by her two sons David (Becky) and Brian (Erin), her grandchildren George, Ogden, and Sarah, her sister Gay and her children Luis, Dodie, and Meg.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, December 30 at 11am at Memorial Presbyterian Church, to be followed at 12:30pm by interment at Woodlawn Cemetery and luncheon at 253 Costello Rd, all in West Palm Beach.