Lura Kathleen Houk

Lura Kathleen "Katy" Houk (nee Roller) passed peacefully from this life on January 9th, 2026 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kansas. She was 75 years old. As she requested, a Homecoming Celebration service will be hosted by Living Water Evangelical Free Church (13960 Hwy K92) in Oskaloosa, KS, on Saturday, February 7th, at noon.

Katy was born February 1st, 1950, the third of six children, in Bentonville, AR. As a child she was a tomboy, playing cowboys with her siblings, and her energy for an active life was established. She played volleyball and softball in high school. She took piano and voice lessons and developed a beautiful soprano voice. Music was a rich part of her life, and she made sure her children were given music lessons and surrounded by music throughout their childhoods. She was an avid, lifelong reader, and taught her children to read by the age of three.

When she was 18, she married her sweetheart, Lonny, and they moved to North Carolina for his first military posting. Over the years they called more than 40 places home. Because of the frequent moves, Katy now has friends across the country and around the world, and many of those she has known and loved refer to her as their best friend. Katy took secretarial courses in college while they were living in Colorado Springs, and she developed tremendous typing skills, her fingers flying faster than the speed of thought, which she employed in helping her children learn to write, and taking the occasional dictation from Lonny, but mostly in keeping up with a vast correspondence with many friends. She has published a seven-book series of bilingual children's books, titled "Down Home on the Farm" (see LKHouk.com for additional information).

Anyone who ever knew or met Katy quickly learned that she was hospitable down to her very bones. Her ability to host, feed, and encourage people was unparalleled. She kept a fastidiously clean home and well-stocked pantry, and was always ready to serve a meal or provide a guest room at short notice. She kept a hospitality journal for years, noting when each person came and what she fed them, including any preferences or needs. She kept a legendary recipe box, which she used thoroughly and frequently, including many recipes with stories, which she would share with her family and friends when making or serving those dishes. She always kept extensive flower beds around her house as a welcome to anyone who would come to visit, and became a hostess to the hummingbird migration through Kansas as a result.

Katy was interested in and invigorated by so many different things over the years, from her work as a volunteer for AudioReader, a local newspapers' service to the visually impaired, her development and leading of women's Bible studies, her following of international events through NPR broadcasts, to her extensive travels. She was one of the most interesting conversationalists, because she was interested in the world around her. She had a vital relationship with her local librarians everywhere she ever lived, and would order books that interested her, that were recommended to her, or that were mentioned on NPR. The librarians looked forward to her calls and visits. She loved board and card games and frequently drew others into games who were surprised to enjoy them because she made them fun.

Quick to smile and laugh, most of the pictures of Katy include her radiant smile, and every phone call included her sunny laugh. Her children remember her laugh ringing through the house, while she was making bread or working on a service project, and they would know she was on the phone or that someone had dropped by for a visit.

Katy threw herself into service of others in every stage and season of her life. She served faithfully: her family and friends, her church and Bible study groups, the elderly in nursing homes, complete strangers who purchased something from Lonny and ended up becoming lifelong friends, and everyone else who crossed her path. She always looked for ways to make the world and the lives of the people around her better. Her favorite advice that she gently administered until the day she died was this: "Do your best, your very best, and do it every day." And she did.

Katy is preceded in death by her parents, Wendell and Emella Roller, and her sisters Wenda Lynn Roller and Rae Jean Roller. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Lonny David Houk of Oskaloosa, KS; her children, Lucas Houk (Sara) of Lawrence, KS, Lacy Lovett (Mark) of Oskaloosa, KS, Isatu Mariatu Boyce (Jeff) of Raymore, MO, Sia Fatmata Kellie of Belton, MO; her grandchildren, Anna, Ava, Clara, Joseph, Adia, Ella, Kara, and Malika; her siblings, Geniece Bradford (Ken) of Queen City, TX, Don Roller (Beth) of Seligman, MO, and Eva Tibbs (Dale) of Pea Ridge, AR; as well as a host of friends and family across the country and around the world.