St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
March 4, 2025
The Funeral of Katharine “Kitty” Washburne
Micah 4:3
Psalm 23
1 John 4:7-21
Luke 10:25-37
Shimmering Gifts
Over the past couple of weeks, it has been very moving to talk with many St. Thomas’ parishioners whose lives were touched by Kitty in myriad ways: friend, teacher, inspiration, role model.
And it is very moving to see so many of you here this morning, gathering to support Kitty’s beloved family, to console one another, and to give thanks to God for this extraordinary person.
I am not at all surprised by the outpouring of grief and love – I’m not surprised, in part, because one day last summer, Kitty and I took a little road trip.
I picked up Kitty at her house, and we drove over to Blakehurst to visit her dear friend and former teaching colleague, Cynthia Murray.
I will always be grateful for that trip to and from Blakehurst. Over those 50 minutes or so, we talked about all sorts of subjects, covered a lot of ground – but that’s what most conversations with Kitty were like, right?
So, anyway, we arrived at Blakehurst and went to Cynthia’s apartment, but she wasn’t there.
One of the aides told us that she was out of the building but would be back “later.”
So, what to do?
Well, since we were already at Blakehurst, we decided to try to see one of the other many people that Kitty knew there: Mary Ann Cover.
And we ended up having a very nice visit with Mary Ann and, eventually, Cynthia, which I’ll come back to in a minute.
But there are a couple of other things I will always remember from that afternoon:
Kitty and I were making our way all over Blakehurst, which was under construction then, and we got detoured and turned around a couple of times. And I’m sure many of you know those long hallways at Blakehurst. Well, after a while it started feeling a little like a march and I got worried about Kitty. So, at one point I turned to her, walking beside me at a good clip, holding her cane but really just as an accessory, I turned to her and asked if she was doing OK.
Well, as I remember it, she said she was just fine and she gave me a look of, “Why would you even ask me that?”
Her energy. To the end, her energy was just extraordinary.
But here’s the most important thing: as we were making our way around Blakehurst, we kept running into people who knew Kitty – people who not only knew her but were overjoyed to see her.
Again and again, eyes and mouths would open wide and people would cry, “Kitty Washburne!”
It was like accompanying a celebrity as she was meeting her fans.
I’ve thought a lot about that memorable afternoon at Blakehurst and reflected on why people were so happy to see her. Part of it was simply surprise and shared history, I know, but it was much more than that, too.
For today’s gospel lesson, we heard one of Jesus’ best-known parables: the Good Samaritan.
There’s a lot going on in this parable – this story that illustrates what it means to be a neighbor.
The two official religious people in the story, the priest and the Levite, they are not good neighbors. They see the injured man by the side of the road, but maybe because they were frightened that there might still be bandits in the area, waiting to get them next – or maybe because they suspected that the injured man was a decoy luring them into a trap – or maybe – and this is what I think - maybe because they just didn’t want to get involved, couldn’t be bothered, they had places to be – for whatever reason, the priest and the Levite pass by on the other side and go on their way.
But the Samaritan stops and helps, and really goes above and beyond, doesn’t he?
And here’s the thing: the Samaritan didn’t see the injured man as a problem or a danger or an obstacle or an irritant – he saw the injured man as a human being – an individual person who needed help.
So, the merciful Samaritan helped him.
That’s God’s way.
And that was Kitty’s way, too.
Several times over the last few years, she called me up about someone she knew who needed help – and I mean someone she really knew – she had taken the time to get to know their story, to really know them and care about them and wanted to find a way to help them however she could.
Maybe some of you experienced her mercy.
It was Kitty’s genuine care for others that made her not only a wonderful mother and grandmother but also an incredibly devoted friend – she maintained so many friendships over all the years and was still open to, still curious about new people, even me, the last in her long line of ministers.
It was Kitty’s genuine care that sparked the response I witnessed at Blakehurst that day.
And, I have to say, Kitty was also formidable.
In one of our last conversations, she described herself as “ornery.”
Her word, not mine!
Well, she certainly had very high standards for herself and others, high standards, of conduct, honesty, justice, integrity.
So, back to that day at Blakehurst. We did finally visit with Cynthia Murray.
And during our conversation, Cynthia mentioned that Kitty had been a wonderful boss at Bryn Mawr. Kitty trusted Cynthia so much as a teacher and as a person that she never asked Cynthia for lesson plans or anything like that, simply trusting her to be the excellent kindergarten teacher that she was.
Many decades later, Kitty’s respect and trust still meant so much to Cynthia.
And how could it not?
Some of you know that not too long ago, Kitty wrote and published a childhood memoir called Gifts Shimmering in the Ripples.
In her book, Kitty shares stories of adventures with her uncle Ragie, adventures not in some far-off land but just down the road at Green Spring.
Ragie led her and the other children on expeditions to discover different kinds of plants and fish, right there around her home, and to learn some important life lessons.
And although Kitty lived most of her life right there, right here, she never lost that spirit of unquenchable curiosity, that spirit of adventure, the ability to uncover wonder right outside her door, to discover marvelous gifts in all sorts of people.
Right now, on the church calendar, we are in Lent – a solemn time of reflection, sacrifice, and repentance, a season that began two weeks ago today on Ash Wednesday.
And I find it particularly meaningful that Kitty died on Ash Wednesday night.
No more Lent for Kitty.
For Kitty, it is already Easter.
It is Easter forever.
Kitty has returned to the God who is Love.
And the “Alleluias” are ringing out, and across the fields the daffodils are blooming, and the fragrance of lavender is in the air.
And Kitty has been reunited with Tom, and Ragie, and so many others who have gone before.
And new adventures, new unimaginable wonders, await.
For us, it’s still very much Lent.
But Kitty has given us her love and her example.
Kitty has left us with so many shimmering gifts – gifts that will continue to bless us and guide us.
Amen.
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