Kathryn "Kate" Moran

Kathryn (Kate) Moran, 78, died on Sept. 23, 2020. That is exactly what she jokingly told her family she wanted her obituary to read. In the event, that she wasn’t joking, we contend that we did honor her wishes because she never explicitly said we couldn’t add to it. Kate did not like to be the center of attention and did not want her family to make a “fuss” about her after her passing. Those who knew her well understand that this is the type of person she was.

Kate was born in Van Wert, Ohio and went to 13 different schools because her dad’s job of building roads required them to move frequently. Kate’s dad was killed in an automobile accident when he was only 48 years old. Kate was very proud of her dad and his work and talked about him frequently to her sons only one of which had the pleasure of meeting him. Her last school was Niles McKinley High School from which she graduated in 1960, the same year she was homecoming queen. Her sons never passed on an opportunity to brag proudly to their friends, “my mom was a homecoming queen.”

She was a stay-at-home mother of three boys who felt her love every day no matter how much difficulty or enjoyment she experienced during her day. She became proficient in kickball, baseball, football and basketball because that was the type of motherhood she practiced. Playing and watching sports was what her family did nearly every day and the happiness of her family is what gave her the most enjoyment. She was a diehard Ohio State Buckeye fan. Kate was the type of mom that would stop doing what was needed to get done in the Moran household if she was needed to ensure that each team had the same number of players in the game being played in “the lot” next to her house. Kate and Willie were always in attendance at their son’s organized sporting events no matter where the event took place or the weather in which it was played.

Kate was a patient mother. Instead of displaying anger when her sons played football on cold fall days in the rain in “the lot” next to her house, she embraced it by providing warmth along with the appropriate nourishment (frequently it was her famous chocolate chip cookies) for all the neighborhood participants. Kate did her best to teach her sons to be good people by handing out the appropriate punishment when situations arose like when her son and a friend covered a garage wall and automobile with mud balls.

She was a fantastic cook and baker. Many kids who are now adults, that grew up in her neighborhood still express the pleasure they got from her chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon rolls. She was inducted into the mom hall of fame and the grandma hall of fame, both unanimously on the first vote.

Kate put up a valent 13-month fight against renal cancer but to no avail. She is preceded in death by her father Glen Slane and mother Dorotha (Speelman). She is survived by her husband William Jr.; sons William III, Springfield, Mo.; Michael (Kristin), Canton, Mich.; and John (Lynn), Liberty, Ohio; her grandchildren John, Taylor, Madeline and Rocco; her sisters Martha, Carol and Patty.

Kate did not want a ceremony, services or flowers. Kate’s family is grateful to the hospice workers who during a pandemic came into her house every day and took care of her with enough compassion and respect to allow her to maintain her dignity in her final days. We simply cannot say enough good things about these people and the organization. In lieu of flowers, please donate to MVI Hospice in Youngstown, Ohio.

Arrangements were handled by the Holloway-Williams Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 611 Robbins Ave., Niles, Ohio. 330-652-2422.

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