THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Chicago, Illinois
Sunday, October 7, 2018



Catherine (Cathy) L. Killean (nee Accorsi) died peacefully with family by her side in Palm Coast, Florida, on October 1, 2018 at the age of 73.

Cathy is survived by her children, Lou (Tina), Cathy (Stan), Jim (Kathy), Dave (Alexandra) and Michael (Laura), and her eleven grandchildren, Kelsey, Mattie, Karsten, Campbell, Amelia, Kate, Sophia, Jimmy, Declan, Olivia and Ella.

She is preceded in death by: her husband Dr. James E. Killean; her father, Louis Kiel Accorsi; and her mother, Irene Louise Accorsi.

Cathy was born on July 17, 1945 in Chicago Illinois to Louis and Irene Accorsi. In 1963, she graduated from Notre Dame High School of Chicago, and then she graduated from Loyola University of Chicago in 1967 with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing.

She married Dr. James E. Killean, M.D. in 1967, and worked as a Registered Nurse in Chicago. After Jim and Cathy moved to Peoria, Illinois in 1970, Cathy studied psychiatric nursing at Bradley University, earning a Master of Arts degree in 1979.

Jim and Cathy moved to Wyoming in 1986, where Cathy started her own counseling practice and taught nursing classes through the University of Wyoming. Cathy truly loved Wyoming.

Jim and Cathy retired to Palm Coast, Florida in 2007.

Cathy's life was marked by public service. As President of the school board, Cathy was instrumental in introducing computers to classrooms in St. Vincent de Paul School in Peoria, Illinois, in the early 1980s. In the 1990s, she fought legal battles to protect Bessemer Mountain from mining. And from 1999 to 2006, she proudly served as a County Commissioner for Natrona County, Wyoming. She received numerous recognitions for her leadership and community service, including a national award for her environmental activism.

Funeral Services have taken place and Cathy has been laid to rest next to her husband Jim at Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens in Flagler Beach, FL.