KATHERINE LOPEZ

LOPEZ--Katherine Lowe.

Beloved wife of 45 years of Frank, mother of Bobby and Billy, mother-in-law to Kristen and Sarah, grandmother of Katie, Annie, Charlie, and Alice, sister of Elizabeth Anne Lowe and Mary V. Ryan, died suddenly Wednesday, August 2, 2017, of lung cancer, at 73. She is remembered for her huge personality, her infectious laughter, kindness, support and encouragement of young people in their careers in the arts, especially the careers of her sons. Kathy cared more that her sons love their work and tried their best to succeed, despite the promise of almost certain financial failure. Fortunately, that did not happen. Bobby co-wrote the Tony-award winning Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, and with Kristen, received an Oscar for the songs from Frozen; Billy won Emmys for music and writing in television's Wonder Pets and Peg + Cat and recently launched a new series, Welcome to the Wayne, on Nickelodeon. Indeed, Kathy cared more for young people's happiness in general. She had the common touch, and was genuinely interested in everyone she met. "What are your goals and dreams?" she would ask them. "What are you doing now to get there? Have you tried...?" And she loved children, especially those still in strollers. Daughter of Eugene Lowe and the former Alice Mary Richards, she was born July 28, 1944, raised from the age of two with her sisters by St. Joseph's Hall in Brooklyn and lived with her devoted stepfather, Joseph F. Ryan, until she met and married Frank, with whom she worked at New York University. They were happy, lifelong residents of Greenwich Village. From her husband: Dearest Kathy, love of my life, the most beautiful and passionate woman I have ever known, who could make me laugh always, who cared and provided for her family's every need, you meant everything to me.