Kathryn Mae Cooper

Kathryn Mae Fuhs youngest child of Charles and Margaret Fuhs was born July 5, 1919 in Dewey, Oklahoma and departed this life Friday, May 13, 2011. She came to Garnett, Kansas at the age of six and most of her life was spent in Anderson County, Kansas, where she was educated in 5 rural schools, (Round Oak, Rockford, Bush City, Maple Grove and Buffalo) with 7 terms of schooling she passed the 8th grade twice, and as school buses did not provide complete transportation in those days she could not attend High School. Also her semi-invalid mother needed her help at home. Kathryn was baptized as a baby in the St. Johns Catholic Church of Bartlesville, Oklahoma but later joined the Selma, Kansas Methodist Church near where she lived. Kathryn married Robert Croan, seven children were born to this union, 5 daughters, Karol, Wanda, Dorothy, Joy and Sally, and two sons, Charles W. and Robert Lewis Croan. They later divorced. Kathryn was married to William E. Cooper of Kincaid, KS in 1962 and they lived on a farm near Selma. In 1963 they and daughter Joy became members of the Bush City Baptist Church. This was church she had attended as a child. Kathryn (and her daughter Sally) took nurse aide courses at the Garnett Hospital, but as she preferred farm work she tended the farm while Bill worked on highway construction in season. Also she continued her hobby of writing which was a God given talent as some of her work had been published in a Kansas City paper at age eight and many other papers and magazines since. She later became a member of The United Amateur Press Association, The International Clover Poetry Association, The Polaroid Photography Club, an honorary member of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. She also held lifetime membership in the Kansas Authors Club. She was author of 26 books and won 27 awards. The State of California voted her in the Top Ten Authors for writing the most books, and the Kansas School for the Deaf voted her among the Top Ten Deaf Authors of the United States. She sold books to many foreign countries and across the U.S. even to High Schools and Colleges for text and reference books besides to Libraries. Two of her books were chosen for the Reagan Presidential Library. But her greatest love was for her family, husband and home. Also for helping to cheer others and she preferred giving away books to selling them, especially to needy folks. Kathryn was preceded in death by her father when she was 14 and her mother many years later; 2 sons, Robert Lewis (infant son) in 1952, and Charles ("Buzz") died at age 27 in a car accident in 1968; 5 brothers, Harry, Carl, Charles Jr., Wayne and Glen Fuhs; and 7 sisters, Nellie Freeman, Ina Faulk, Marjorie Shool, Ann Hendricks, Helen Field, Wilma Hamilton and Ella Knab; and 5 grandchildren. She leaves 5 daughters, Karol Gragg of Phoenix, Arizona, Wanda Young and husband, Jesse of Olla, Louisiana, Dorothy Glasgow, RN, and husband, Larry of Topeka, KS, Joy Mietchen, Merriam, Kansas and Sally Underwood of Boliver, Missouri. Kathryn leaves 2 substitute sons, Dr. David Henderson and Dr. George Boutros; 13 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. She will be sadly missed by her family. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service Chapel, Garnett. The family will greet friends from 1:00 - 2:00 PM prior to the service. Memorial contributions are suggested to Hospice Care of Kansas and may be sent in care of the funeral home. Condolences to the family may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com .