Laura Kathryn Houseworth Noller died peacefully in Macon, GA at the age of 94. Katie was born in Alma, KS on March 2, 1919. She was the second of four children born to Court Henry Houseworth and his wife Mable Lynch Houseworth. Katie grew up in Harveyville, KS, southwest of Topeka. She was the first woman from her hometown to attend college. She joined Alpha Phi sorority at Washburn College in Topeka and went on to receive her degree in Economics in 1941. She married Dr. Henry William Noller in 1942. Katie and Henry spent 38 years in St. Louis, MO before retiring to Fort Meyers, FL in 1984. They shared 48 years of marriage and raised two sons, David and Stephen, who also became physicians.
She encouraged her two sons throughout their lives, never allowing them to say, “I can’t do it.” She was both an Indian Guide and Cub Scout leader and in addition to volunteering at local schools was an active parent volunteer in Junior Golf at Westborough Country Club. She helped many a young boy mature into a good sportsman on the links. She was renowned in her neighborhood for her “chip chocolate” cookies—yes, said backwards—that drew children to her kitchen. One of the thrills of her and Henry’s time in St. Louis was commissioning a home by modern architect Ralph Fournier in St. Louis’ Ladue neighborhood, which had two special features, a suspended spiral staircase and Colorado Redstone walls.
Katie’s interests soon became her passions and she left this world as an accomplished golfer, fine pianist, organist, master seamstress, knitter and jazz aficionado. When Henry took up golf, she joined him and rarely missed the fairway. Together they amassed a sizable trophy collection. Her love of music started in her youth and she was a skilled pianist by the time she was 18 and later took up the organ. When her sons left for college she decided to teach herself to sew and became an accomplished seamstress, tailoring suits and making formal gowns. If you spent any time at all with Katie, you would listen to classical jazz and her favorite contemporary group the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. She might have even tried to talk you into going on a jazz cruise.
She was independent, opinionated and had a fierce wit, though her heart was soft for those who physically or emotionally suffered. She was especially touched by the hard lives of migrant workers in Florida and did much to help them while living there, even at one point giving away her wedding dress. Her surviving brother Dick, nine years her junior, says she was his confidant throughout his life because he knew she cared so deeply. The tenderest spot in her heart was reserved for her five grandchildren. Nothing could light up her face faster than the sound of one of their voices.
Katie was devoted to her husband Henry until his death in 1990. She moved to Macon, GA in 2001 to be nearer family and there built a new life for herself. She quickly made new friends and found many in Macon who shared her love of evening jazz and scotch on the rocks.
When Katie peacefully left this world on April 12, 2013 she went home to her God and into the waiting arms of her husband Henry, the love of her life.
Katie is survived by her sons David W. Noller, M.D. and his wife Anne of San Jose, CA and Stephen A. Noller, M.D. and his wife Beverly of Macon, GA, along with five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. She is also survived by her younger brother Richard “Dick” Houseworth of Paradise Valley, AZ and his wife Laura, her brother-in-law Howard Crawford of Shawnee Mission, KS, and by loving nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Henry W. Noller, M.D. of St. Louis, MO and Ft. Myers, FL, by her older brother Carl Houseworth of Topeka, KS, and her sister Millie Houseworth Crawford of Shawnee Mission, KS.
Visitation will be at Snows Memorial Chapel (Cherry Street) on Monday, April 22 from 5-7p.m. in Macon, GA. A funeral mass will be said at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Macon, GA on Tuesday, April 23 at 11 a.m. where Widor’s Toccata, Katie and Henry’s favorite organ piece, will be played.
Should friends desire, contributions may be made to The Priory, a Catholic school for boys in St. Louis, at 500 S. Mason Road, St. Louis, MO 63141, the Macon Concert Association at 4760 Forsyth Road, Macon, GA 31210-4407 or the Jazz Association of Macon at P.O. Box 4192, Macon, GA 31208-4192.
Visit www.snowsmacon.com to express tributes.
Snow's Memorial Chapel, Cherry Street, has charge of arrangements.
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