Kathy LaPan’s virtual memorial was held on Saturday and I am so appreciative of Bruce Bernhart for organizing it. It was a wonderful way to pay tribute to an amazing person. He asked that I start with the opening comments and Cathy Allen was asked to close it. Cathy, your closing was so moving and as you’ve requested, I have also posted the opening that I shared. This was hard, but also very therapeutic as I remembered all the wonderful memories with Kathy.
I will be reading 2nd Timothy 4:7.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
I’d like to share a few words about Kathy. She and I have been friends for 35 years. We met at work, right after Joe had been born. I remember meeting her and I knew right away that she was a kind, hard working, strong, determined, and extremely bright person. She worked on the billing system, which was a complex system, and a critical system for our company. However, I soon learned that not only was she all these qualities, but she was also generous. She was so happy for me when I found out I was going to have a baby that she loaned all of her maternity clothes to me, and organized a group of coworkers to sew nursery bedding for me. Each piece was absolutely beautiful and unbelievably thoughtful.
Kathy left Tampa a few years later to go back to Michigan. She wanted to raise Joe close to her family. But she and I kept in contact. I was so happy when I heard she was job searching years later, as we had an opening and she returned to Tampa again. It was at that time she told me of the cancer that she had been treated for in Michigan. It was not gone, but instead was dormant. Kathy was a fighter and took charge of her health, but she also did not let this disease control her life. In fact, most people did not know she had cancer, until the most recent years.
We became best of friends. She, I, and Patricia Tellez were inseparable. We found we all had a love for running and would meet up every Saturday at the Carrollwood Village Panera. Not to have breakfast, but instead to run the loop which we called the Panera 5k. We found we liked it so much, we decided to meet up on Sunday’s too. And when Saturday and Sunday’s weren’t enough, we met up with the Tampa Bay Runners group and ran the loop with them on Wednesday nights. My husband, Cam, said we literally ran millions of miles around the villages of Tampa.
Our first 5k was the Tampa Jingle Bell. It is still my absolute favorite race. We put bells on our shoes and had so much fun. Kathy beamed, we all laughed, and ran as fast as we could. Then we found they had a fun post race event, and would be serving beer at 8am after the race. We weren’t too sure what to think about that, but found quickly it was a fun way to end a race. I’m sure it was just each other’s company, but we decided to sign up for more races. And, of course, the post race event was now a key part of our decision making for signing up for those races. I can’t begin to count the number of races we ran - 5k, 10k, 50 mile relay, and half marathons. And, in every single race we always stuck together. We started each race together and we finished just the same.
But running wasn’t the only fun that we shared. We loved going to the Lightning hockey games and the Bucs tailgates and football games. And we traveled as a trio as well, going on a cruise, weekend trips around Florida, California, and with a larger group of girls to Las Vegas.
The past few years Kathy’s cancer was no longer dormant and became very aggressive. She fought with everything she possibly could and not once did she ever give up, or lose her faith. I spent New Years Eve with her in the hospital and she had a nurse take our picture. She said she planned to scrapbook it. Kathy was an inspiration to me and so many others, with her strength, perseverance, and courage. I treasure these and so many more memories with her. Kathy was not just a friend, but she’s family.
She fought the good fight, she finished the race, and she always kept her faith.
I will be reading 2nd Timothy 4:7.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
I’d like to share a few words about Kathy. She and I have been friends for 35 years. We met at work, right after Joe had been born. I remember meeting her and I knew right away that she was a kind, hard working, strong, determined, and extremely bright person. She worked on the billing system, which was a complex system, and a critical system for our company. However, I soon learned that not only was she all these qualities, but she was also generous. She was so happy for me when I found out I was going to have a baby that she loaned all of her maternity clothes to me, and organized a group of coworkers to sew nursery bedding for me. Each piece was absolutely beautiful and unbelievably thoughtful.
Kathy left Tampa a few years later to go back to Michigan. She wanted to raise Joe close to her family. But she and I kept in contact. I was so happy when I heard she was job searching years later, as we had an opening and she returned to Tampa again. It was at that time she told me of the cancer that she had been treated for in Michigan. It was not gone, but instead was dormant. Kathy was a fighter and took charge of her health, but she also did not let this disease control her life. In fact, most people did not know she had cancer, until the most recent years.
We became best of friends. She, I, and Patricia Tellez were inseparable. We found we all had a love for running and would meet up every Saturday at the Carrollwood Village Panera. Not to have breakfast, but instead to run the loop which we called the Panera 5k. We found we liked it so much, we decided to meet up on Sunday’s too. And when Saturday and Sunday’s weren’t enough, we met up with the Tampa Bay Runners group and ran the loop with them on Wednesday nights. My husband, Cam, said we literally ran millions of miles around the villages of Tampa.
Our first 5k was the Tampa Jingle Bell. It is still my absolute favorite race. We put bells on our shoes and had so much fun. Kathy beamed, we all laughed, and ran as fast as we could. Then we found they had a fun post race event, and would be serving beer at 8am after the race. We weren’t too sure what to think about that, but found quickly it was a fun way to end a race. I’m sure it was just each other’s company, but we decided to sign up for more races. And, of course, the post race event was now a key part of our decision making for signing up for those races. I can’t begin to count the number of races we ran - 5k, 10k, 50 mile relay, and half marathons. And, in every single race we always stuck together. We started each race together and we finished just the same.
But running wasn’t the only fun that we shared. We loved going to the Lightning hockey games and the Bucs tailgates and football games. And we traveled as a trio as well, going on a cruise, weekend trips around Florida, California, and with a larger group of girls to Las Vegas.
The past few years Kathy’s cancer was no longer dormant and became very aggressive. She fought with everything she possibly could and not once did she ever give up, or lose her faith. I spent New Years Eve with her in the hospital and she had a nurse take our picture. She said she planned to scrapbook it. Kathy was an inspiration to me and so many others, with her strength, perseverance, and courage. I treasure these and so many more memories with her. Kathy was not just a friend, but she’s family.
She fought the good fight, she finished the race, and she always kept her faith.