Katharine "Kathy" Jean Gilliam

Katharine Jean Gilliam (Kathy) of Newbury Park, California passed away at home with her family on Wednesday February 8, 2023, at the age of 52. Kathy was born on September 17, 1970 in Independence, Missouri and grew up in the Kansas City area.

Kathy attended the University of Missouri where she received a Master of Science in Food Science and met her husband, Mark. After graduation, Kathy and Mark were married in 1994 and lived in the Chicago area before moving to California in 1997.

Kathy enjoyed a career in the food industry, working on new product development and in the test kitchen perfecting recipes. As her family grew, she transitioned to full-time mom, volunteering at the school and leading a Girl Scout troop. After her career, she continued her passion of learning all things culinary. She collected a wide variety of cookbooks which she read like they were novels. She loved trying new recipes and preparing amazing meals for her fortunate family and friends.

Kathy loved exploring beautiful places with her family and made countless camping trips along the California coast and into the mountains. Kathy helped organize many group camping trips, some with 10 or more families where no one ever went hungry.

Kathy spent nearly seven years actively battling a rare cancer. She constantly impressed those around her with her always positive attitude, her joy, her love of life, her strength, her generous nature, and her thankfulness for the smallest favor. Kathy was fortunate to be under the care of extremely knowledgeable and compassionate health care professionals throughout her journey. She had an amazing support team of friends who stayed beside her through all these years and provided a continuous stream of visits and meals to support Kathy and her family.

She is survived by her husband of 28 years, Mark; their children Jack, Megan, and Clara; her parents Jack and Sharon; her sister Elizabeth and brother John.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the LeiomyoSarcoma Support and Direct Research Foundation: www.lmsdr.org