Sarah Hawthorne

Sarah Katherine (Kathy) Hawthorne, 87, passed away August 11, 2022, in Franklin, Tennessee. A visitation will be held at Waco Memorial Funeral Home, 7537 Interstate 35 South, Waco, Texas. The family will be greeting friends and relatives at 12:00 Noon on Saturday, August 27, 2022. A graveside Service of Witness to the Resurrection and Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery at 2:00 P.M.

She was born October 17, 1934, in Waco, Texas to Albert and Lillian (Blakeney) Johnston. Kathy grew up in Waco and graduated from Waco High School in 1952. After high school, she attended college at Baylor University in Waco, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and where she received a BA degree in Education. After graduation, she worked as a second-grade teacher before her marriage.

Kathy married James (Jim) McCollum Hawthorne, in 1957, in Waco and they were happily married for fifty-six years, until he predeceased her in 2014. Though they made their home in five different states, the constants in their life together were their faith in God, their children, membership and participation in their church homes and their children’s ministries, support for both foster and adoptive children, and a deep concern for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with all children.

Kathy was preceded in death by her parents, Albert and Lillian Johnston; husband, Jim Hawthorne; and daughter, Sarah Hawthorne.

Kathy is survived by her sister, Jane Riddlesperger of Dallas, Texas; sons, Blake Hawthorne and wife, Mel of Lynnville, Tennessee, Mike Hawthorne and wife, Kay of Guffey, Colorado and Joe Hawthorne and wife, Wende of Forney, Texas; daughters, Lisa Hawthorne of Texas, Laura Hawthorne of Georgia, and Ashley Kennedy of Texas; nephew, John Riddlesperger; nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.