Kathleen Marie Hoff Donovan, age 87, born in Windthorst, Texas, passed away on November 20, 2019, at Lakeway Hospital, near Austin, Texas.
A Memorial Dinner for Family and Friends will take place at 1:00 PM at The Old School Historical Preservation Society of Cameron, Missouri, on Saturday, June 13, 2020. The interment of ashes will take place prior, at 12:00 noon, at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, in DeKalb County, under the direction of Turner Funeral Home, Maysville, Missouri.
Kathleen was born on September 24, 1932, the eldest child of Anton (Tony) Hoff and Ida Mae Meurer Hoff. Kathleen and her younger brother Bert were both born in the original farmhouse that was the very first home in Windthorst, built by Kathleen’s grandparents Ernest & Josephine Hoff in 1892. The home was the site of the first Catholic Mass in Windthorst. Kathleen and her four siblings were raised on the Hoff farm and educated by Catholic nuns at the public school in Windthorst.
Kathleen attended her senior year of high school at the Academy of Mary Immaculate while working as a housekeeper and nanny for a family in Wichita Falls. After high school, Kathleen attended and graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Fort Worth. Kathleen completed her training as a Registered Nurse (RN) at DeTar Memorial Hospital in Victoria, and then went on to work at Parkland Hospital and Methodist Hospital in Dallas. Kathleen’s sisters became nurses, also, with Charlotte graduating from St. Joseph’s in Fort Worth and Ernestine from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio. Kathleen’s brothers, Bert and Claude, attended and graduated from Texas A&M University.
Kathleen married John Joseph Donovan, Jr., at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Windthorst, Texas, in 1957. They started off with a farm in Grapevine, Texas, and later moved to a farm in DeKalb County, Missouri, near John’s parents in Maysville. Kathleen and her husband started and operated a dairy business and grew corn for silage, hay, and various cash crops. After the children were older, Kathleen resumed working as registered nurse in the greater Kansas City area. In 1978, Kathleen and the family moved from Cameron, Missouri, to Independence, Missouri. In 1985, Kathleen and the younger children moved to San Antonio, Texas.
In 1994, after the kids were grown, Kathleen moved to Huntsville, Texas, working as a nurse within the prison system in Huntsville and then working at many other jobs. Meanwhile, Kathleen was very active with her church activities, a book club, the Audubon society, and gardening. She enjoyed square dancing, classical music, attending plays and live theater, reading her newspaper every day, playing Scrabble, watching movies and the news on TV, and doing crossword puzzles. Kathleen’s greatest joy was having been a mother to seven children. What she loved most was going to visit her kids, no matter where they lived, in Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Kansas, and California.  Kathleen moved to Sherman, Texas, in 2007, and to Dripping Springs, Texas, in 2016.
Throughout a nursing career spanning decades, Kathleen worked in the emergency room, labor and delivery, medical/surgical, orthopedics and acute medical, psychiatric care, and Alzheimer’s care. She worked as an industrial plant nurse at Armco Steel in Kansas City. Kathleen worked in home health and hospice care for many years, including taking care of former First Lady Bess Truman in Independence, Missouri.
Kathleen is survived by all seven of her children: Katrina Donovan Koger [Jon] of Columbia, Missouri, Patricia Donovan Weaver [Harry], of Columbia, Missouri; John Joseph Donovan, III [Lisa], of Kansas City, Missouri; Colleen Donovan Roegner [Tony] of Whitewright, Texas; Jerry Jay Donovan [Ellen] of Shawnee, Kansas; Jeffrey James Donovan [Jenna Moers] of Dripping Springs, Texas; and Rachel Ann Donovan [Jeff Yih] of San Francisco, California; nine grand-children, and one great-grandchild. Kathleen’s nine grandchildren are Thea Koger Selby [Sandy], Trinity Koger, Nicolaas Koger [Allison], Andrew Weaver, Matthew Weaver, Carlton Roegner, James Roegner, Trevor Donovan, and Colin Donovan. Kathleen’s great-grandchild is Michelle Selby.
Kathleen was preceded in death by her sister, Charlotte Hoff Jenkins, of Fort Worth, Texas, and one niece, Sabrina Jenkins, also of Fort Worth, Texas. Kathleen’s surviving siblings are Bert Hoff [Elizabeth] of Windthorst, Texas, Ernestine Hoff Pavelka Marth of San Antonio, Texas, and Claude Hoff [Beverly] of Windthorst, Texas. Kathleen is survived by 10 nieces and nephews and 8 great-nieces and nephews.
Cards, memories, and condolences may be sent by mail to Rachel Donovan, 236 West Portal Ave #516, San Francisco CA, 94127, or via e-mail to Donovan.Rachel@gmail.com. If you are able to join us for the Memorial Dinner, please call or text Rachel at 816.301.4198 or send an e-mail to Donovan.Rachel@gmail.com. We are looking forward to sharing memories with family and friends.
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Kathleen Marie Hoff Donovan, 87, passed away on November 20, 2019. A Memorial Dinner will take place at 1:00 PM at Cameron Old School on Saturday, June 13, 2020. The interment will take place prior, at 12:00 noon, at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, near Maysville, Missouri. To attend or send condolences, please call, text 816.301.4198 or send an e-mail to Donovan.Rachel@gmail.com.