On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend Kathleen ‘Kathy’ Borgemenke Pettit, passed away at the age of 65.
Kathy was born on Jan. 29, 1957, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a 1975 graduate of Northern Burlington County High School. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. Throughout the years she has lived in Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, California, Virginia and Texas, before settling in Lake Charles, La., in 2004 with her husband and daughter. Kathy worked as an accountant for Sasol from 1996 until her retirement in November, 2017. She was a member of First United Methodist Church and took part in the Great Expectations Sunday school class. Kathy was all about 3 things: family, friends, and the outdoors. Her family lovingly referred to her as ‘Chatty Kathy’ because she never met a stranger in public (ask her husband about the long conversations at the mall makeup counter, usually having nothing at all to do about makeup), and she was the first person her family would call to celebrate good news, to get trusted advice, and to have a shoulder to cry on when times were tough. The holidays were very special to Kathy and her family, especially the annual Thanksgiving feast and Black Friday shopping with her daughters and Christmas celebration with her husband, children, and grandchildren: traditions that will live on because of her. She also loved annual Mardi Gras festivities with friends in Lake Charles every year. Kathy was phenomenal gardener; her backyard oasis was admired by all, and her beloved Black-eyed Susan flowers continue spreading their seed far and wide in family and friends’ yards in Texas and Louisiana. She achieved SWLA Master Naturalist and spent many hours devoted to furthering her knowledge and conservation of the flora and fauna of southwest Louisiana. Regardless of the location or the season, she could always be found relishing each morning in the company of her husband or family on a back porch with a hot cup of coffee, enjoying God’s creation with company that she loved.
Kathy is survived by her husband of twenty-two years, Steve Hookanson; son, Thomas Pettit of Seoul, South Korea; daughters, Krista Hejl (Christopher) of Oak Point, Texas, Megan Owen (Riley) of Ocala, Fla., and Kimberly Hookanson of Denver, Colo.; brother, Kenneth Borgemenke (Maureen); half-brothers, Danny Borgenemke (Christie) and Gary Borgemenke (Judy); sister, Pamela Gieser; grandchildren, Mckenzie and Aubrey Hejl; and numerous close friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Louis Borgemenke and Cordelia Dietzen.
A memorial service will be held in her honor at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2022, at Johnson Funeral Home in Lake Charles, La., officiated by the Rev. Weldon Bares. A gathering of family and friends will begin at the funeral home on Saturday from 1 p.m. until the start of the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to https://give.healthtree.org/campaign/mcri-coming-together-for-change/c375690
Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.Johnsonfuneralhome.net.