WILLIAMSBURG — Frances Kathleen “Kathy” Stoneburner, 97, passed on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. Kathy was born Dec. 2, 1923, the only child of Robert C. Moore and Mabel Frances Moore in Colorado City, Texas.
Her family moved to Lamesa, Texas, when Kathy was two years old. Kathy graduated from Lamesa High School. Her father said there is no greater gift for a child than a good education. Kathy graduated from Southwestern University with B.S. degrees in chemistry and biology. While Kathy was there, the university celebrated its 100th anniversary as an institution of higher education.
Kathy started her first job as a laboratory specialist with the Pan American Oil Company on April 4, 1944, at their Texas City facility. While Kathy was there, she met the love of her life, Gene Stoneburner, and they were married Dec. 28, 1947. Their three children were all born in Texas City, Texas. Her favorite hobbies were gardening, solving puzzles, playing bridge and traveling.
In 1957, Gene was transferred to Yorktown, where the American Oil Company was building a new refinery. In 1958, they moved their family into a newly built house in the then young Queens Lake Community in Williamsburg. Kathy was very supportive of all her children’s activities (often requiring significant amounts of cheering).
Kathy was selected as president of the Queens Lake Community Association in 1971. Due to her love of gardening, Kathy was a longstanding member of the Queens Lake Garden Club and created many flower arrangements for the Williamsburg Community Hospital’s Auxiliary Gift Shop. In 1981, Kathy and Gene introduced the family to their new lake house on Lake Gaston, which has served as a location for family gatherings ever since.
On Jan. 27, 2006, Kathy lost her best friend, travel partner and love of her life. They had been married for 58 years. Her daughter Pam became her new travel partner, taking Kathy first to London to see the International Flower Show. Then Pam and Doug took her to Baja, Mexico, where Kathy actually got to touch a whale. They also took her on a photo safari of South Africa. While on safari, they watched 32 elephants march in front of their vehicle, and while in Capetown, Kathy got to wade in the Indian Ocean. In 2013, Kathy treated the whole family to an Adriatic and Mediterranean cruise, which everyone enjoyed immensely. Kathy also got to share in numerous “vacations” with various family members in the Outer Banks.
Her Queens Lake home also continued to serve as a location for numerous family gatherings at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day. Having enjoyed a life relatively free of serious illness and blessed by such a loving family, Kathy truly believed that she had had a wonderful life. She was able to tell her family how lucky she was and for everyone to have a happy new year at a belated family Christmas gathering the day before she died.
Left to cherish her memory are her three children and their families, Robert J. Stoneburner, and his wife, Phyllis C. Stoneburner, Carolee Cline, and her husband, Peter M. Cline, and Pamela K. Joslin, and her husband, Douglas Joslin. All three children graduated from York High School and Virginia Tech (go Hokies). Kathy is also survived by her three grandchildren, Kirsten Kathleen Cline of Parkton, Maryland, Keegan M. Cline of Hayes, and his wife, Melanie Locke Cline, and Lauren Elizabeth Carroll (Pam’s daughter) of Charlottesville. Kathy also greatly enjoyed spending time with her two great-granddaughters, Kaylee Saige Cline and Hadlee Kathleen Cline.
A celebration of her life will be announced at a later date. A graveside memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 30, at Williamsburg Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to a charity of your choice.
Share online condolences with the family at Bucktrout of Williamsburg Funeral Service.
