Kathleen Loree Simone

1946 - 2024

Kathleen Loree Simone (Harshman)
Born: January 2, 1946
Died: December 24, 2024
"Scrubblesnortz! – A Kathy-ism to be used instead of swearing whenever something wasn't going your way. A descendent of Hans Herr, the first Mennonite bishop to emigrate to the United States, and many Lords and Ladies of England and Ireland, Kathy's lineage was proper, polite, traditional, and adventurous. Her mother, aunts, and great-aunts influenced much of her style – from her love of antiques, religion, ancestry, gardening, travel, community activism, and Emily-Post-like etiquette. In some ways, it is comical that while in nursing school, she met the love of her life, David Charles Simone (surviving) – Dago Dave, a handsome, rambunctious young man from Cicero, Illinois, whose family was much louder and didn't mind imbibing in a bit of vino while dancing tarantella into the wee hours of the morning. Dave loved her sparkly eyes, bubbly personality, and long track-trained legs – hubba hubba! Kathy was a Dekalb County champion track star with ambitions of becoming a nurse and living in Chicago. As a child, when she was not playing the role of an additional mom to her four siblings (all surviving William Harshman, Joyce Cruse, Helen Edwards, and Vincent Harshman), she was known to ride a pogo stick or bike for miles into town.
After meeting Dave, she settled in the big city – first Chicago and last Tampa, where she became mother to Dawn Renee and Benjamin Simone (deceased). She was involved in their lives – school room mom, PTA president, scout leader, cheerleader to sports and band, and continued adventurer. Speaking of adventures, she was a great storyteller. Some of her favorites included the time she and Dave met Dick Van Dyke at the Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany during the filming of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the time they met Muhamad Ali in downtown Chicago, her trips to Hawaii with Dave, or the time she swears he tried to drown her by a tipped canoe (not!).
As her children became older, she became a successful real estate agent and later a Pampered Chef consultant.
Kathy cared deeply about others and the environment, giving many years of service to Bereaved Parents and not worrying about what others thought about her level of recycling. She brought recycled carry-out containers to restaurants, used her reusable food scrappers, and refused to use plastic straws. Once she became a grandmother to Sergio Kuichi Inoue Figueroa, son of her daughter Dawn and Sergio Inoue Figueroa (all surviving), she lessened her volunteer and career hours and resumed her role as an involved cheerleader. Although living 1,000+ miles away, thanks to technology, she never missed one of her grandson's football games to the point the walls shook by her excited yelling, and she and Dave visited Michigan often. While she was well-traveled across several continents, her favorite vacation was her and Dave's annual trip to Brooke Green Garden in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina.
Scrubblesnortz! Kathy, age 78, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away Tuesday morning, December 24, 2024. Continuing her acts of service to others, she passed peacefully in her sleep. Her new mission takes her to a place where she can serve others from above and reunite with her son and blessed family and friends who went before her. Kathy was buried in New Hope Cemetery in Brandon, FL, on Friday, January 3rd,.