Kathleen was a loving and caring lady
The sudden death of Kathleen Bolton Callan on 30 December, 2019, was devastating for her husband and family.
She hadn’t enjoyed good health for the last two years but she had been out the previous night and was in the best of form.
Her death was totally unexpected and the deep shock and grief felt widespread.
Kathleen was a loving and caring lady with a bubbly personality to whom family meant everything. But she wasn’t slow in letting her opinion be known if something was said out of place or with which she disagreed.
Her passing has left a void that will never be filled for her husband John and their five children and other close family.
She was so proud of her first granddaughter, and coincidently her death occurred on the first birthday of Millie. But she touched so many lives which was underlined by the extraordinary number of people who viewed notification of her passing on the RIP website.
This, along with the support of a large number of sympathisers, some of whom travelled quite a distance, was of much comfort and greatly appreciated.
The happy memories that John and the family have of Kathleen will also help to sustain them in the sad and lonely days they will face.
Formerly Miss Kathleen Maddy, her life began in Coventry. With one brother Dean, she was the youngest of two children
She spent her early school years in Coventry, but when aged ten her family moved to Dundalk. She continued her education in Castletown Girls School and Saint Louis
Secondary School.
Her parents ran a chip shop on Castletown Road, and the family home was in Father Murray Park.
Kathleen worked in various jobs in town, including Blackthorn Shoes, Four Lanterns takeaway restaurant in Park Street, and Vodafone call centre on The Ramparts where she spent ten years.
She was a receptionist in the Citizens’ Advice Centre and her last employment was in Boylesports on the Finnabair industrial estate.
It was while employed in the Four Lanterns that Kathleen met John, who also worked there at the time.
She lived in Glenwood on the Dublin Road where her first three children from her first marriage grew up.
She and John set up home first in Ashbrook and moved to live in Belfry Drive, Saint Alphonsus Road in 2003.
Kathleen was the one mainly responsible for turning it into a loving, caring and lovely home, with the couple having two children together bringing their family to five.
She loved music and the couple shared a love of country music, travel and holidays.
They fulfilled a dream of going to Nashville, home of country music, in 2018. They made a holiday out of the trip taking in New York.
Kathleen especially loved Portugal. She visited the country some 17 times, Praia De Rocha on The Algarve her favourite resort.
She visited New York a number of times, and the couple spent their honeymoon in the Maldives, the island located in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean.
Paris, Rome, London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham were included in the list of cities that Kathleen visited.
Two of her other passions were fashion and glamour, and she always took great care over her appearance.
She enjoyed shopping, and especially loved Christmas, earning the sobriquet ‘Mrs Christmas’.
She always had in her heart the homeless and those down on their luck, and showed kindness wherever she went in a practical way, by such as buying clothes or providing drinks and food.
Through her illness over the last couple of years she kept out and about with the aid, in latter times, of a mobile scooter in respect of which she became known as ‘Killer Kate’ because of her hurried driving.
She carried on living with her passion for shopping undiminished, visiting the Bordeaux market early in December.
A regular social outing for her was to Oriel Park on a Sunday night.
Kathleen is survived by her heartbroken husband, John; daughter, Clare; sons, Aidan Jnr, Shane, Jason and Korey; granddaughter, Millie; brother, Dean; mother-in-law, fatherin-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
She reposed at her home on New Year’s Day, and was removed the next day, Thursday, to Saint Joseph’s Redemptorist Church. Funeral Mass was celebrated by Father Eamon Kavanagh CSsR.
Conor Nicholson, a close family friend, spoke eloquently of Kathleen and what she meant to everybody.
Her nephews and nieces laid symbols before the altar that represented her life. These included her passport, picture of her granddaughter, Millie and five children, along with a packet of cigarettes and a gin glass.
The Readings were given by nephew Aaron Callan and friend Jamie Kennedy, while the Prayers of the Faithful were read by son, Jason, Michelle and Gráinne Callan and Hannah Kerley.
Cousins Pat and Debbie from Coventry brought up the Offertory Gifts.
The lovely music was provided by Ruth Kelly and Paddy Neary.
Cremation took place afterwards in Glasnevin Crematorium.
The Month’s Mind Mass for Kathleen takes place on Sunday next, 2 February, at 12.30pm in Saint Joseph’s Redemptorist Church.