Katherine Barbour

Katherine J. Barbour
12/4/1926-3/27/2015

Kitty Johnson was born in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1926. An only child, she and her parents soon moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky where she spent her childhood. After high school, she went to Maryville College in Tennessee where she met Don Barbour. On seeing her give a presentation in English class, he introduced himself and announced that he was going to marry her. In 1946, they married, moved to his home state of Florida and transferred to University of Florida. Kitty received a BA in Psychology in 1948 and was always proud to say that she was in the first U of F class that graduated women. She and Don were serious Gator fans their whole lives. They moved to Orlando in 1953, where Don founded several businesses, always with Kitty as his secretary, accountant, and overall superior human resource. She also managed to be very active in the community and especially enjoyed her tenure from 1977-1978 as President of Young Women's Community Club where she was known as "our Beloved Kitty." Kitty and Don were members of Park Lake Presbyterian, later moved to First Presbyterian, and upon their return to Orlando after living at Lake Kingsley for 10 years, they joined Grace Covenant Presbyterian. Kitty was a devoted student of the Bible. A born story-teller and teacher, she took great delight leading Bible study in many different Women of the Church Circles over the years and teaching Vacation Bible School and Sunday school for children of all ages. One of the highlights of her working life was the time she spent as the first Activities Director at Westminster Towers. The friends she made there and during her many years in several congregations of churches in Orlando were a source of much joy throughout her life. She always loved a good joke and tried to learn one to share every day. One of her many sayings was that Laughter and Friends are good for the Soul. She is survived by her daughter, Sally Barbour, her son and his wife, John and Laurie Barbour, and their children Hannah and Andrew. Kitty will be deeply missed by her family and friends, but we carry on with love, joy and laughter as she taught us to do. A celebration of Kitty's life will be held at Grace Covenant Church, Saturday, April 11, at 2:30pm. In keeping with her wishes, the family asks that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to Westminster Retirement Community Foundation.

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