Kathryn Mae Tillman

Beloved, kind, and generous daughter, sister, aunt, and friend Kathryn Mae Tillman (“Kathy”), 58, left this earth on December 3, 2022, in Nacogdoches, Texas, after a ten-year battle with breast and ovarian cancer. She fought hard until the very end. Her will to live was heroic. Throughout it all she never complained. She is dearly loved and profoundly missed.

Born June 17, 1964, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to Charles and Barbara Tillman, Kathy was the youngest of four children and only girl.

A native of Bartlesville, Kathy also lived in Tripoli, Libya; West Covina, California; and Sacramento, California while growing up.

A graduate of Sooner High School in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Kathy went on to attend Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, earning an undergraduate degree in Forestry. Kathy’s professional career with the US Department of Agriculture placed her in years long assignments in New York, Maine, and Pennsylvania before relocating to Nacogdoches, Texas. Kathy retired from the United States Government Civil Service in 2022.

Though Kathy never married or had children, she loved her brothers’ children as if they were her own. Always generous and easy-going, Kathy had a heart of gold for her family. Like her parents and brothers, Kathy loved animals, cooking and gardening.

A breast cancer survivor, Kathy underwent chemical, surgical, radiological, and immune treatments in her fight against ovarian cancer over many years. In the end Kathy enrolled in various clinical trials for ovarian cancer treatments, making a lasting contribution to cancer research and treatments for women with similar diagnoses.

Kathy is survived by her parents, Charles and Barbara of Nacogdoches, and brothers Mark (Taylor, Blaire) and Michael (Alex, Jack, Hala), and preceded in death by brother David (Matthew, Zofia, Duncan).

A celebration of life is scheduled for January 21, 2023, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Nacogdoches, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Kathy’s name to the East Texas Food Bank, in Tyler, Texas, an organization Kathy supported and believed in its mission.