by Pat Donnelly

I expect to pass this way but once;
Any good therefore that I can do,or any kindness that I can show
to any fellow creature,let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it
for I shall not pass
this way again.
(Etienne De Grellet)

When Etienne De Grellet, an American (French-born) Quaker evangelist and traveler, penned these words in the 19th Century he could not have known Kathy Keene. Yet these words—unfamiliar to most of us—were carried by the winds of time directly to Kathy as if written by De Grellet with her in mind. That gentle breeze swirled through Kathy’s Monhagen Middle School Nurse’s Office every day, caressing the delicate cheeks, bruised knees and sick stomachs of a thousand young students. Now the ephemeral wind that carried De Grellet’s message has quieted, leaving behind only its preordained truth: Kathy Keene, Monhagen’s beloved school nurse, passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, of cancer on New Year’s Day. She will not pass this way again.Under Kathy Keene’s direction the Monhagen Health Office was the finest in the district. Kathy’s knowledge of nursing was first rate and her organizational skills were unmatched. With the help of her good friend, Marena Escobar, Kathy ran a special office. They always made their middle-schoolers feel at ease. Young students always left the office with a smile because Kathy and Marena would have it no other way, always finding something to make the children laugh. There is much that Kathy’s charges will miss: some will miss the crackers to settle a queasy stomach, some will miss the mints, some will certainly miss the skeleton on the office door that began as a Halloween decoration, morphing through the seasons into a summer-ready, Speedo-clad swimmer, but all of us will miss Kathy’s smile and welcoming way.

True to De Grellet’s words, Kathy never deferred or neglected a kindness. We will remember her well for the good that she did and for the kindness that she heaped upon those around her. Our thoughts are with Kathy’s husband Al, her son Jeff and his wife Heather and daughter Victoria, as well as with Marena Escobar.