Kathryn Blanch Cawley

Kathryn Blanche Cawley, 96, passed away Wednesday, May 25, 2023, in Abilene, Texas. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM, Thursday, June 15, 2023, in the Elmwood Funeral Home Chapel, 5750 Hwy 277 South. Interment will follow in Elmwood Memorial Park.
Kathryn was born on September 12, 1926, to Margaret and George Childress. She grew up in Post, Texas, surrounded by her grandparents, Nicolas and Rosa Lanotte, the Childresses, and several aunts and uncles. After graduating from Post High School, Kathryn went to Abilene Christian College and worked at the college to pay for her tuition. There she earned a degree in home economics, and right after she graduated, she was hired by Lone Star Gas. It turned out to be a wonderful fit. She went all around Abilene and to the surrounding small towns, helping people with their gas appliances and giving demonstrations. She loved working at Lone Star Gas and stayed there for forty-four years until she retired.
She loved being with people and helping them. She was a constant volunteer at the Christian Service Center and was on the Committee of the Taylor County Home and Family Living Council and was a contributing member to the Abilene Board of the Arthritis Foundation. In 1972 she was Regional Chairman of the Women's Division of the Abilene United Fund Drive. In 1973-74 she was Chairman of the Women's Committee of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce. For 6 years she was Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Home Economics Cooperative Education Program of the Abilene schools. As one of her coworkers said, "When no one else would do a task, it was a known fact that Kathryn would." Her energy and efforts were endless. For her many contributions, she was named the Business and Professional Women's Club Woman of the Year in 1973.
Most of all Kathryn loved the Lord, and she was an active member of the Highland Church of Christ and then later a member of the College Church of Christ, where she was a co-teacher in a teen girls' class. She was a devoted and attentive daughter and had her mother live with her in her mother's later years. When Kathryn could no longer live at home, she moved to Chisholm Place and was blessed by friends and family who checked on her as Kathryn had done for so many others.