Kathleen Brennan

Kathleen “Kate” Brennan, 55, of Dallas, died Friday evening at her home after a brief illness.
Born June 19, 1953, in Wayne, she was a daughter of Joseph P. Brennan of Trucksville and the late Gloria J. Davis Brennan.
Kate was a member of the Class of 1971 of Dallas High School and was a magna cum laude graduate of College Misericordia, earning her BA in English in 1975. She was accorded the honor of being named Outstanding Graduate Student in Humanities upon receiving her Master of Arts in English from the University of Scranton in 1986.
Kate began her teaching career in 1975 as a seventh-grade teacher for the Lake-Lehman School District. In 1980, she joined the English Department of College Misericordia, where she was a writing instructor for many years. In 1986, Kate embarked on 22-year career with Penn State University at Wilkes-Barre, where she was a senior instructor of English, literature and writing.
Kate will be remembered by countless students as the best teacher they ever had. Her many friends and colleagues will remember her in much the same way. Kate’s dedication and innovation resulted in the implementation of many programs supportive of student needs and she leaves many in her debt.
In the words of a colleague, Kate had an empathetic passion that enabled her to see and feel the beauty in art, the pain in those who were troubled and hurt, love for her family and friends, a free spirit for life’s pleasures and compassion for others above all else.
Her husband, Peter G. Schneeman, Ph.D., professor of English at Penn State, died April 3, 2007.
Surviving, in addition to her father, are her children, Blake and her husband, Ryan Sult, Dallas; and Bruce Justin Nagle, Dallas; three grandchildren who dearly loved her, Mikayla Engler, Ethan and Mia Sult; sisters Patricia and her husband, Joshua Bryant, Dallas, and Terri Brennan, Paris, France; brothers Robert Brennan, Fairfax, Calif., and Dr. Timothy and his wife, Gerri Brennan, Annville; step-daughters Andrea Spooner, New York City, and Kristen Schneeman, Washington, D.C.
Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday at 10 a.m. in Saint Therese’s Church, Pioneer Avenue, Shavertown. Interment will be in Maple Hill Cemetery in Hanover Township.
Friends may call Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., at M.J. McLaughlin Company, 142 S. Washington St., Wilkes-Barre.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Penn State Wilkes-Barre Student Scholarship Fund in Memory of Kate Brennan, c/o Development Office, P.O. Box PSU, Lehman, PA 18627-02