Kathryn Anne Loughrist

Obituary for Kathryn Anne (Segrist) Loughrist
On Thursday, October 2, 2025, at 9:38 am Central Time, Kathryn Anne Loughrist, age 39, passed away peacefully in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a result of certain medical complications she experienced as part of the initial treatments she received for breast cancer. She was in a sun-filled room, surrounded by loved ones, and listening to some of her favorite music when she passed.
Kathryn Anne Segrist, or "Katie" as she was known, was born on April 11, 1986, in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. As a child, she played six (6) years of little league baseball in an all-boys' league, both breaking barriers and earning her spot on the roster each and every week. While attending Scottsbluff High School, she was selected for and played varsity volleyball all four (4) years and served a critical role on the school's Speech Team, qualifying for the State Speech Finals all four (4) years and winning the State Class A Championship in Entertainment Speaking during her senior year. She also participated in a National Speech Meet in Salt Lake City, Utah.
After graduating high school, she went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, class of 2008, and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Doane University. As part of her education, Katie also studied abroad as a Fulbright Scholar in Münster, Germany, where she developed both a love of and knack for learning German and other foreign languages. Katie was also a talented musician, teaching herself how to play the banjo, composing, arranging, and singing original music, and playing in a variety of bands in and around Lincoln, Nebraska.
Professionally, Katie was an immensely talented educator, beloved by a crowd of students deeply impacted by her lessons and heartfelt care. She taught, primarily, English Language Learners (ELL) at Park Middle School in Lincoln, Nebraska, and English Language Arts at Sheffield Central Schools in Sheffield, Alabama. She also taught ELL courses to Chinese students while teaching in southern China and at the University of Northern Alabama. In addition to her career as an educator, Katie also worked briefly at a leading international trade and customs law firm where she helped importers lawfully realize duty savings. Katie was also an entrepreneur in her own right, starting a home organizing business, Safe Spaces Organizing, in 2024. She was very proud of the work she did and the way she was able to improve the quality of life for her clients.
On July 12, 2014, she married the love of her life, Tim Loughlin, at the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center in Denton, Nebraska, at which point they merged their surnames, becoming Katie and Tim Loughrist. Tim and Katie's love started the day they met and continues to this day.
When thinking of Katie, it is difficult to express the tremendous scope and impact she had on all of the lives she touched. She made friends easily, expressed her love without hesitation, and expected nothing in return. She also saw the beauty and human worth of every person she met. She was able to celebrate and cherish the best in every person and actively cheered for them through any struggle they may have been encountering. She was authentically herself in every room she entered, which allowed others to be authentically themselves in her presence. Simply put, she taught us all how to love and live more deeply. She leaves behind a gaping hole in the lives of so many, but also a community that is capable of healing those wounds, knitted together by her love, light, and legacy.
Katie is preceded in death by her grandparents, Samuel F. and Betty (Johnson) Segrist and Robert L. and Lela (Kohl) Watts. Katie is survived by her parents, Samuel W. and Carroll Ann (Watts) Segrist, her brother Samuel R. Segrist and nephew, Samuel L. Segrist, her brother Mark J. Segrist and sister-in-law Angela Stone, and her nephews and niece, Julian, George, and Ingrid Segrist, her uncle and aunt, Kip and Jean (Segrist) Straub, her first cousins, Meghan (Straub) Rappa and Matthew Straub, her aunt Mary Watts, her aunt Marianne (Schmidt) Watts Harris, great uncle, Ronnie Watts, great aunt Francis Kohl Handlong, and first cousins, Brontë (Foss) Paulsen, Honor Foss, Colter Foss, Jenny (Watts) Davis, Jillian (Watts) Cronenworth, and Dusky Cooper, her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Barb and Garrett Loughlin, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Carrie and Ryan Beaty, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Chris and Kim Loughlin, their children, Shannon, Sean, and Kevin, and her spouse, Tim Loughrist.
Celebration of life ceremonies will be held in several locations, with the first being in Lincoln, Nebraska on December 7, 2025, at the Bourbon Theater, located at 1415 O Street, Lincoln, NE 68508 (with speakers and musical guests honoring Katie's life, legacy, and love for music), Minneapolis, Minnesota (location, date and time TBD), and Florence, Alabama (location, date, and time TBD).