KATHARINE LEIGH WOOD

2019-2020

Katharine Leigh Wood entered into this world on June 12, 2019, and she lived her entire life in Bayou Saint John. Katharine was a neighborhood celebrity who always had a “hi” and a “bye-bye” for everyone she passed while going for a walk hand-inhand with her mother. It was Katharine’s joy to raise her shirt and show you her “bulla bella.” It was your joy to see it. Katharine loved her books, especially those you cannot rip and can read upside down. Meals were an adventure! Katharine was a spirited eater but also a harsh critic if your cooking was not up to her standards. She was not a fan of blenders, garbage disposals, and hairdryers. Her best non-human friend was her puppy, Oyster Rockefeller. Thick as thieves. For Mardi Gras, Katharine paraded around the Marigny as the captain of H.M.S Chubby Cheeks. She was a sight to behold. Outside of costuming, Katharine loved to make groceries at Terranova’s Supermarket and select wines for her parents from Swirl. Katharine was a student at Mid-City Early Learning Center, where she loved being with her friends, playing in the classroom kitchen, and making art. They say she was a very serious little girl with a smile that would light up a room. Her parents agree with the latter statement and appreciate all the love they showed her. Katharine lived her life surrounded by love; in fact, she only knew love, and she spread it everywhere she went. The sudden passing of someone so young is cruel and unnecessary. It is a violation of the natural order and bestows a sense of helplessness within those who love her. However, Katharine is a treasure to her parents, Valerie and Derek Wood. Not only are they better because of her, the world is also better because of her. The second stanza of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline is the speaker’s memory of an idyllic Acadia that was no more: “This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman?” Katharine is our Acadia. We long for her, but we will never forget her, and memories of her will live forever in all who loved her. Katharine will also be dearly missed by her Houston family, by her grandparents Leigh and Phil Williams, uncle Phillip Williams, godmother Lauren La Follette Morris and husband Aaron, great aunt and uncle Chris and Craig LaFollette and cousins Caroline and Matt LaFollette and Laurel Chick. In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider donating to the Katharine Leigh Wood Memorial Fund for scholarships and a new playground at the Mid-City Early Learning Center. http:// canalmosaic.churchcenter. com/giving/to/katharineleigh