Kathryn Meade Obituary

Kathryn Richards Meade, a long-time resident of LaGrange and Western Springs, died recently in an Alzheimer's care facility in Corvallis, Oregon. She was 86. Her death on February 19, 2009 came after more than 10 years with the disease. Mrs. Meade was married to David Meade of Western Springs where they resided for 54 years. They moved to Oregon in 2006 to be near their daughter. Her death occurred seven days before the couples' 65th anniversary. For several years she served as director of a cooperative nursery school in Pleasantdale, south of Western Springs. She was active in the Western Springs Historical Society, Friends of the Library, Western Spring League of Women Voters and the book group at the senior center in Hinsdale. During the Vietnam war, she was a draft counselor and with her husband, was involved in the Civil Rights and Peace movements. Kathryn Lucille Richard was born on April 27, 1922, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Oron E. Richards and Minnie Mae Gleim Richards. The family moved to LaGrange in the early 1920s, where Kathryn attended grade school and Lyons Township High School and Junior College. Later, she attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, graduating with a major in early childhood education. After their wedding in 1944, the couple went to Coronado, California, where her husband began active duty in the United Sates Navy during World War II. When the war ended, they lived in Iowa for several years before moving to Western Springs in 1952. Surviving are her husband of Philomath, Oregon; two sons, Richard of Chicago and Jonathon of San Francisco; a daughter, Margaret of Philomath; and a sister, Margaret Runyon of Midland, Michigan. A sister, Helen Sewall of Bath, Maine, preceded her in death. A memorial gathering will be held in the Grand Avenue Community Center, Western Springs, at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 22.