Kathy Yvonne Stark, 74, of Cozad, Nebraska, passed away on Monday, November 6, 2023, at Hilltop Estates in Gothenburg, Nebraska.
She was born on June 10, 1949, in Lexington, Nebraska, the 3rd of 4 children born to Loren Leith Stark and Gaile June (Stedman) Stark. Kathy attended grade school, junior high and through her junior year at Lexington Public Schools. She then moved to Cozad where she graduated from Cozad High School with the class of 1967. While in school, Kathy was in the top 10% of her class scholastically, and was head squad leader of the Cozad Pep club where she won the very first ever "yell bell" award. Her other interests included singing in choirs and small groups and playing roles in class plays.
Kathy began her nursing career in the home of a Cozad resident as a companion as well as working as a candy striper at the nursing home attached to the Cozad Community Hospital after school. After graduating from High School, Kathy attended the Lincoln General Hospital School of Nursing full time for three years, graduating in 1970 with her nursing diploma and passing the Nebraska State Board of Nursing Licensure to become a registered nurse. She began her professional career at the Cozad Community Hospital before moving to Brighton, Colorado to continue expanding her work experience to include ICU and CCU, management of the candy striper program and developed a juvenile diabetes teaching program. After Colorado, Kathy returned to Nebraska to work at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney in the Coronary Intensive Care and Coronary Progressive unit. Following that, she returned to Cozad to work general duty until she became the director for the Central Plains Home and Community Health Agency based at the Cozad Hospital. With the help of an excellent team of secretarial staff, RNs, LPNs, nurses' aides, physical and occupational therapists, that agency grew to more than quadruple its services and visits.
Kathy moved on to Ogallala as a director of the Sandhills District Health Department and then returned to Kearney where she expanded her nursing experience at the new Richard Young Psychiatric Hospital as an ICU charge nurse, ECT nurse specialist, and as a specialties in-service presenter. She served on joint committees between Good Samaritan and Richard Young Hospital including the initiation of Information systems and trained in Boston with the team that built the computer programs for the Good Samaritan and Richard Young staff. Following her work at Good Samaritan Hospital, Kathy moved to Lexington and began working with the Mid Nebraska Community Service in their health programs including Kids Connection and helped with public health screenings, flu shots, administration, child immunization, public education, and in-servicing.
Kathy was very proud of her nursing accomplishments as well as her contribution to the cities and organizations she represented. She was selected to appear in the "who's who in America" for her various efforts and won an achievement award through the statewide Nebraska Community Improvement program Health Division. She also served as an officer in the Nebraska Home and Community Health State Organization where she received an award for her contribution.
Throughout her adult life, Kathy participated in community programs including church and community choirs, playing lead roles in the Cozad Community and Gothenburg Community Theater presentations including the role of Lucy in "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" and one of the leading ladies in "Arsenic and Old Lace". God blessed Kathy with many skills, talents, and opportunities to share with her family, friends, and communities throughout her life. She loved to sing in choirs and sing as a soloist. With the advent of Facebook, she found an opportunity to continue that God given gift with the cyberspace world.
She is survived by her older sister, Carol Gibson of Cozad; nephews, Allen, Richard, Robb, and Tony Nichols, all of Cozad, Jerry Ron Stark of Kearney; nieces, Misti Maddox, and Heather Stark of Cozad; multiple grand and great-grand nieces and nephews and a multitude of Christian brothers and sisters.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Gerald Lee, and Ronald Craig Stark.
A Celebration Of Life Service will be held on Monday, November 13, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at the American Lutheran Church in Cozad with Pastor Kathy Gundell, officiating.
Inurnment will be in the Cozad Cemetery at Cozad.
Memorials are kindly suggested to the family for later designation.
Reynolds-Love Funeral Home in Lexington is honored to be assisting the family with arrangements. Please share online condolences with the family by visiting: reynoldslovefuneralhome.com.