Obituaries

Kathy Lee James

11/22/1955 - 10/25/2023

Our sweet Mom, Kathy Lee James (née Gudermuth), passed away on the morning of October 25th, 2023. She was born November 22, 1955. She died a month shy of her 68th birthday. She is survived by her two children and son in law, Margaret (Clayton) Provine and James O'Donnell. Her grandchildren, Declan and Norah Provine. Her mother, Dorothy Gudermuth. Her sister and brother in law, Karen and Dan Logan. As well as her nephews and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father, Roy Gudermuth.

A St. Louis native, she attended Lindbergh High School (class of '74). She received her bachelor's in economics at Washington University in St. Louis (class of '77), while there she was an active member of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. She went on to get her MBA from NYU (class of '79). In her lifetime she held positions in banking, development, and hands on healing, but her greatest role was being the absolute best mother and grandmother.

Mom had many interests in her life. She loved to travel and spent summers as a teen backpacking Europe with her sister. West Maui holds many special memories of trips with her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed many trips to London to visit her son while he lived there. A family trip to Ireland was a collective favorite. She loved British television shows and hot cups of tea. Mom loved to learn and was always reading or taking classes and seminars. She offered advice and wisdom to those who were lucky enough to know her. Snuggling and reading books with her grand kids and taking them for walks to see the Ginko leaves change color in the fall brought her joy. Mom was a long standing member of a book club and an intention group. She enjoyed discovering new restaurants, and taking walks with her loyal dog, Jamie. She found comfort sitting under the maple trees in her backyard.

Later in her life she found great comfort in writing emails to a large community of friends and family about her journey with breast cancer. She was always eager to update "her people" after a big development, and credited their collective prayers as helping her battle breast cancer for as long as she did. We were by her side until the very end. She was so loved.

No memorial service is to be held. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Forest Park Forever.