Kathryn Leta Wright

Former Santa Cruz resident, Dr. Kathryn Leta Wright, passed away in Lathrup Village, Michigan on April 26, 2010, from a long-term illness. She will be missed greatly by her Santa Cruz friends and family and her many friends and patients in Michigan.

Kathryn was born April 15, 1949, in Culver City, California. Her family soon moved to the UCLA campus where her father was pursuing a Masters degree in Anthropology and where they were close to the beach and her father's family in Malibu.

When Kathryn was eight years old, the family moved to Mexico near Guadalajara. They were happy there-Kathryn and her sister studied Spanish in preparation for entering school, her father worked on his novel and taught English, and her mother painted. After four months they decided to return to Los Angeles as Kathryn's health was precarious and they wanted additional medical advice.

Kathryn entered the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles where she endured an invasive treatment for Wilm's disease, a children's cancer of the kidney, which in those days was not considered treatable. After a nine-hour surgery, and six weeks of heavy x-ray therapy, she was allowed to go home. Kathryn's acceptance of her treatment and her tenacity and cheerfulness made her a favorite with everyone at the hospital. It was there that her life-long dream of helping children began.

Kathryn went back to school in Malibu with the doctor's express orders that she should not have any physical exercise. However, she was soon running on the beach with her Mexican dog Reina. Although she looked delicate, her spirit was anything but. She had the strength of a tiger. She wouldn't allow anyone or anything to keep her from doing the things that made her happy. Her Grandpa Gilbert taught her to dig for clams. When it was decided that she had to have another surgery she reluctantly entered the hospital. The day she got back to Malibu she insisted on digging for clams with her sister and grandpa. Tiny and pale, she sat on the beach and dug clams for dinner. Nothing would hold her back.

And nothing held her back as an adult, either. After a short term living in Pacific Grove with her father's mother, Nana Leta Browne Deery and attending Monterey Peninsula College, she transferred to the new University of California at Santa Cruz where she majored in Psychology. She received her BS degree and decided to go to medical school to learn more skills necessary to help children. She excelled in school and was self-effacing, strong and determined.

Kathryn went to medical school in Lancing Michigan and later did a residency at Children's Hospital in Detroit where she met her professional and personal future. She met pediatric nurse, Joette Lambert, the woman who was to become her partner of twenty-five years. Together they moved to Salem, Massachusetts, where she had charge of a free clinic and then to Seattle so Kathryn could finish her education with a residency in adolescent medicine from the University of Washington. While there, they adopted a baby girl and were the first same sex couple in the State of Washington to both be named as parents on their daughter Jordan's birth certificate. Even though she loved Seattle, Kathryn never forgot Detroit and the children there that needed help. After her schooling was complete, the family moved back to Michigan.

As a pediatrician Kathryn devoted herself to treating and counseling at risk teenagers and those infected by HIV/AIDS. She founded the Horizons Project in 1992, an adolescent clinic at Children's Hospital in Detroit, with a mission to support and love children and families affected by HIV. This clinic was entirely supported by grants and donations.

However, her life's work was cut short. She needed to retire from Detroit Children's Hospital and Wayne State University due to her poor health. In 2007, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Comprehensive School Health Coordinator's Association CSHCA.

Since retiring, Kathryn had the joy of traveling to Europe, Alaska and especially to her life-long love, Santa Cruz where she reunited with family and friends, who will all miss her consistent, unconditional, love and support. She is survived by her daughter, Jordan Lambert Wright of Toronto, Canada; mother and stepfather, Shirlee and David Byrd of Santa Cruz, CA; siblings, Diana Wright Troxell of Cottonwood, CA; Virginia Ann Wright of Felton, CA; David Michael Wright of Freemont, CA; John Gilbert Wright of Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Maria Frances Wright of Winnipeg, Manitoba; as well as her partner, Susan Ann Brooks of Lathrup Village, Michigan and former partner, Joette Lambert of Royal Oaks, Michigan. She was preceded in death by her father, Philip Browne Wright and stepmother Claudia Frances Wright.

A scattering of Kathryn's ashes will be held on Sunday, July 18th, on the Stagnaro boat on the Santa Cruz Bay followed by a memorial celebration of her life on the Beach at Twin Lakes. For more information of the memorial, call Shirlee Byrd 457-0726..

Donations can be made in Kathryn's name to: Horizon Project, Wayne State University Medical School, Outreach/Drop-In Center, 3127 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48207