Katherine Garrison

Katherine Anne Delores McKeone "Katie" Garrison, 83, of Midlothian, Virginia, transitioned on October 11, 2024, in the arms of her niece and goddaughter, Tonja Estes, surrounded by the compassionate staff of the Bon Secours Community Hospice House. Though she had been making a remarkable recovery from her April stroke, her final days were marked by the unexpected discovery of cancer that had spread to her brain, ending her recovery too soon.

Early Life & Education

Katie was born on January 25, 1941, in Norton, Virginia, to Robert and Blanche (née Jones) McKeone, the youngest sibling of Gertrude and Robert. As a Girl Scout, she proudly achieved the rank of Mariner Scout First Class — the highest attainable rank in the nautical branch — nurturing a lifelong love of water, leadership, and adventure.

At age 15, while studying ballet at one studio of the Martinique School of Dance, she met Gary Garrison, a student from another studio. He became her husband, lifelong travel companion, and partner in love, advocacy, and secular humanism. Together for nearly six decades — from their courtship in the 1950s until Gary's passing in 2016 — they raised two sons, Eric and Sean.

After graduating from John Marshall High School, Katie began her studies at Radford University before transferring to the Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU), where she graduated proudly.

Action & Adventure

Like her Mariner Scout beginnings, Katie was an explorer at heart. Before having children, she and Gary worked as medical social workers in Sydney, Australia, under Dr. Burniston. From there they explored the Australian Outback, Hong Kong, India, China, Russia, East Germany, and much of Europe.

After Australia, she returned home to Virginia to plan her children's births and begin the next chapter of her life devoted to family and community.

In California during the 1970s, she was an extraordinary camper and campfire cook, once even constructing a blueberry coffee cake in the ashes using two tin pie plates folded like a UFO. Raising two rowdy boys in Long Beach while Gary worked, she became the queen of the Power Nap — twenty minutes' rest and she could go another eight hours. And a Diet Pepsi with a pack of cheese Nabs was to her like a can of spinach to Popeye. She loved sailing, white-water rafting, hiking, and traveling to places near and far, and even won a local sailing contest — a point of pride that fit her lifelong love of the water.

Her adventures extended throughout the U.S. as well. With family and friends she visited many of America's great National Parks, including Glacier, and made multiple trips to the Grand Canyon. She also loved outdoor adventures with her grandchildren, even daring to leap off a cliff into cold waters below.

On a Christmas Market Cruise of the Danube in 2019, Katie befriended the college-aged grandchildren of a fellow passenger family and led them in karaoke sing-alongs of Neil Diamond songs — complete with choreographed dance steps. As she disembarked permanently in Vienna, passengers and crew called out in chorus, "Auf Wiedersehen, Sweet Caroline!" The next day — despite months-old reservations — she talked her way into the city's oldest coffee house, where the staff set up a special table beside the Christmas tree in the main parlor just so she could enjoy Apfelstrudel and coffee on Christmas Day.

She and Gary were always seeking serendipity — like the time a back-roads general store offered up fresh blackberry cobbler with hand-churned ice cream, or when Katie herself went inside the Pendry Chicago Hotel and charmed her way into an invitation upstairs, just so her family could enjoy a one drink only rooftop view of the city. Just as B&Bs boast "Washington slept here," there are hardly any back roads, creeks, lakes, or mountains where Katie didn't picnic, hike, or photograph. And if she hadn't, it was on her list.

Even after her stroke, she still sought new horizons, making road trips as far as she could tolerate before smiling and saying, "I think it's time to go home."

Arts & Creativity

Her love for the arts was lifelong. Katie's introduction to Broadway came in high school, when she famously slipped away from her John Marshall group and snuck into "My Fair Lady" before the curtain rose — staying through the standing ovation for Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews.

In college, the Clark family introduced her and Gary to Richmond's Barksdale Theatre, sparking a passion for the local stage. That love carried west to California, where they even took Eric and Sean to see productions of "Gypsy" and "Oklahoma!" long before the boys saw their first Disney cartoon, "The Jungle Book." And it was there, too, that Katie heard "The Bare Necessities," adopting its lyrics as a lifelong philosophy of joy and simplicity.

She was an artist at heart, creating with charcoal, pastels, and watercolors, and she delighted in beauty wherever she found it — in her artwork, her garden, or the world around her. During her years in California, she also volunteered for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, deepening her appreciation for music.

A devoted fan of theatre and music — from "Hamilton" and "Wicked" to "Les Misérables" and "La La Land" (she especially loved "Audition") — she carried that passion throughout her life. She and Gary also made it a habit to support every street performer with a little cash, believing deeply in encouraging artists.

Katie loved shopping for others — often window shopping in antique stores, consignment shops, art galleries, and gift stores. Just as she touched people's hearts, she also touched nearly everything in those shops, leaving no treasure unnoticed.

Katie also delighted in the whimsical. At home, the simple sight of the waving air dancers outside car dealerships never failed to make her laugh. On a Christmas during the pandemic, she spent twelve hours on the road delivering her family's Irish tea bread to Maryland relatives, creating joy through window visits.

Advocacy, Community & "Family"

Katie's professional life reflected her deep commitment to equity and care. She earned her Master of Social Work at VCU and worked with Dr. Arnie Stolberg on the Divorce Adjustment Project, supporting children of divorce. She then joined the Richmond Center for Independent Living (later the Virginia Center for Independent Living), advocating for persons with accessibility issues and where she herself had been labeled jokingly but honestly, "temporarily able-bodied."

Most notably, she worked in Chesterfield County Schools at Grange Hall Elementary, Swift Creek Middle, and Monacan High School, where she founded the county's first Gay-Straight Alliance as a straight ally. She retired in 2003, leaving a legacy of advocacy, compassion, and service. Children of divorce always held a special place in her heart, both personally and professionally.

Katie was a tireless advocate, championing causes great and small, local and international. She was known for her fierce compassion, and even in her final days encouraged the nurses caring for her to unionize — and urged her physical and occupational therapists to seek higher-paying posts to match their skills. She remained civically engaged until her final year, proudly casting her legal ballot on September 20, 2024.

She cherished both her family of origin and her found family, including her book club, her social worker lunch bunch, her LWCC political group, and friends old and new from every stage of her life.

Resilience & Gratitude

Katie loved reading historical fiction, poetry, and stoic philosophy, and she carried those lessons of resilience into her daily life. She later recalled one of the most cathartic nights of laughter in her life was at Shalom Gardens — shared over Ukrop's fried chicken, a few side dishes, and yes... a Diet Pepsi. She also sang recovery anthems like Queen's "We Are the Champions," shaping her own journey of healing.

One fall evening in 2024, while practicing on the varied pavement course at Sheltering Arms, she said she looked forward to returning there for track and harness therapy, just so she could relearn how to waltz with her sons and grandson. That dream was not fulfilled, but it became a symbol of her determination — her way of "dancing through life" even in hardship.

Her family is profoundly grateful to Dr. Christy Littaua and her team at Sheltering Arms, to Seldon Collins, Allison Doyle, and Jackie Green at Shalom Gardens, to Bryan Knavel for his traveling haircuts and later studio makeovers (her new pixie cut was deemed "fierce"), and to the compassionate home therapists and aides who helped her work toward recovery with dignity and independence.

Family & Legacy

Katie is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Gary; her parents and mother-in-law; her siblings; her childhood friend, Dale Duffy; three nephews; and most of her beloved in-laws, Gary's brothers, sisters, and their spouses, whom she adored.

She is survived by her sons, Eric Garrison and Sean Garrison (with partner Valerie Cope); her cherished grandchildren, Skylar and Rucker Garrison; her nieces, Melanie Jennings and Tonja Estes, who cared lovingly for both Gary in his final days and Katie since her stroke; and countless other nieces, nephews, dear friends, and extended family.

Celebration of Life

"As you remember the love, joy, support, advocacy, and perhaps even healthy disagreement that I brought to your lives, please honor Gary's and my love of the Platinum Rule — treating others the way they wish to be treated. Whether it's donating to a cherished cause, performing a simple act of kindness, registering someone to vote, sipping a chocolate malt from Kline's, watching the sun set, reading Virginia Satir's 'I Am Me,' or singing the lyrics to 'Perfect Day,' please celebrate my social justice life by spreading love and compassion in the ways that resonate with each of you. I left instructions for my dry Celebration of Life, hoping it will bring many of you together. Though you will not see us again, Gary and I would want you to love and support yourselves, each other, our nation, and this planet unconditionally, making our universe a better place for everyone."

Her Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2025, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Brandermill Pavilions in Midlothian, with spoken remembrances from 1 to 2 p.m. For parking passes (if not a Brandermill resident), please email RSVP@ericmgarrison.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a cause close to your heart. Katie's suggested charities include the Bon Secours Community Hospice House; the Massey Cancer Institute at VCU; Sheltering Arms and Shalom Gardens; Chesterfield County Schools; the VCU School of Social Work; the VCU School of Music; Side By Side (Richmond, VA); Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and LWCC.

Katie's legacy of compassion, creativity, and courage lives on in all who knew her.