Kathleen “Kathy” Huettl Courtney
(mostly written by Kathy who liked to plan ahead)

Kathy was born in 1930 in Columbus, Ohio. Her father was an attorney and her mother a homemaker. She had one younger sister, Janet. Kathy attended St. Mary of the Springs, a Catholic all girls academy, then went to The Ohio State University, where she graduated in 1952 with a major in Textiles and Clothing and a minor in Fine Arts.

Throughout her school years, Kathy was very involved in music. From her early years she loved to harmonize, singing with a strong alto voice. She sang in music groups in high school and college. She played the violin in the high school orchestra and the piano, preferring to play classical music. She also learned to play the guitar and the ukulele as an adult.

After college, Kathy took a job at a local retail store and quickly became the department manager. In 1960, she vacationed to California and never returned home. She entered the management training program at Buffum’s flagship department store in Long Beach, and soon became the Assistant Personnel Manager.

Kathy met her first husband, George Huettl, in Long Beach at a gathering of the Catholic Alumni Club. They married in 1965 and bought their first home in Huntington Beach. Kathy and George had two daughters: Ann Elaine and Sheila Marie. Due to an unfortunate fall at 2 years old, Ann became physically handicapped and had many brain surgeries throughout her childhood.

In 1969, Kathy and George moved their family to Irvine, in the community of Turtle Rock. They joined St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic parish before the church was built. Kathy was a Eucharistic minister and lector, led a bible sharing group, served on the church council, and sang in the music group. She was also a member of the committee to make Irvine a city, which happened in 1971. Kathy was active in her sorority alumni group (Alpha Chi Omega), volunteered for a suicide hotline, and was president of the American Field Service. In 1984, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church honored Kathy as the Catholic Woman of the Year.

In 1979, Kathy took a position at UC Irvine in the English as a Second Language program. Later she transferred to UCI’s Department of Pharmacology where she worked with graduate students and research doctors. Kathy retired from UCI in 1989 and then had four long-term temporary jobs which she did for fun.

Kathy’s husband George died of a heart attack in 1984. Their daughter Ann had recently finished high school where she had been a member of the cross country and track teams, and their daughter Sheila went on to graduate from UCLA.

In 1989, Kathy moved to Laguna Niguel. She became a member of St. Timothy Catholic Church before the main building was built, when mass was celebrated in the parish hall. She became a Eucharistic minister and lector, worked on the Scrip program, was a member of the Stewardship committee, and worked on St. Timothy’s staff to help with fundraising for the new church building. Kathy also sang in the choir on Saturday evenings for decades until April of 2024.

In 1992, Kathy married long time family friend John Courtney who had lost his wife Molly five years before. John had four grown sons who were all married with children. Kathy and John traveled to Hawaii and visited many of the national parks together. They were married for 13 years before John died in 2005.

Kathy was a 43 year breast cancer survivor, a 12 year lung cancer survivor and was on supplemental oxygen for 12 years. She was an inspiration to others because she continued to live a full life on oxygen and she encouraged others to do the same. Kathy was an inspiration to her friends and family because of her strong faith, her positive “attitude of gratitude”, and because she shared God’s love wherever she went.

Kathy is survived by her daughters Ann and Sheila Huettl and her step sons Patrick (Pam), Robert (Jovan), Kevin (Megan) and Kerry Courtney and their children and grandchildren. She is also survived by her nephews and nieces Patrick (Lori), Mike and Sean O’Brien and Patrice, Julie and Ted (Lucy) Huettl and their children and by the children of her first cousins Ken (Nancy), Don and Larry Smith and John and Kathy Price and their children and grandchildren.

Services will be held at St. Timothy Catholic Church, 29102 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 on September 10th at 12pm with a reception following from 1pm-3pm in the parish hall. Services can also be viewed online at https://youtube.com/live/SD7udWceT0Y

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, one of the causes Kathy felt strongly about supporting.