KATHARINE “KIT” TAPERS WALLINGFORD
07/14/1940 - 11/27/2023
The Reverend Katharine “Kit” Tapers Wallingford, Ph.D, 83, of Houston rose in glory in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection on November 27, 2023, after an eyes-wide-open battle with Alzheimer’s.
Born July 14, 1940, in Tallahassee, Florida, to John Martin and Alma Entzminger Tapers, Kit was salutatorian of Leon High School, just edging out Faye Dunaway (yes, that one). After receiving a B.A. in Russian (Phi Beta Kappa) from Randolph Macon Women’s College,
Kit graduated from Harvard Law School in 1965, one of only 35 women in a class of 500. Upon graduation, she moved to Houston, where she met another young lawyer on the Allen House shuttle to the federal courthouse. Kit married Rufus Wallingford in 1966. Daughter Halley was born the following year on Kit’s mother’s birthday, and being the overachiever that she was, Kit gave birth to son John two years later on Rufus’s mother’s birthday.
In the 1970s, Kit taught at the University of Houston Law Center and gave her time to the Women’s Institute to help women take control of their credit and participate fully in financial conversations at home. Called back to the halls of academia in the 1980s, Kit pursued and graduated with a Ph.D in English from Rice University. Her dissertation on the poetry of Robert Lowell was later published by the University of North Carolina Press. Kit stayed on as a lecturer in modern American poetry at Rice for many years.
A deeply faithful cradle Episcopalian, Kit was very involved in Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church as a member of the choir and Vestry. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Seminary of the Southwest. Her faith led her to a call to lay ministry. Kit was involved with Stephen Ministry, Community of Hope, St. Luke’s Hospital, and other pastoral ministries. A gifted spiritual director,
Kit guided and accompanied many into a deeper relationship with their Creator. Eventually, she was called to ordained ministry and became one of the early nontraditionally formed priests in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. After ordination, she served at Palmer Church until her retirement.
While Houston would always be home, Kit was also drawn to the mountains. She and Rufus spent every summer in Estes Park, Colorado, for decades. She hiked and had opinions about almost every trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. (Ypsilon Lake: “Long walk in the trees for not much payoff at the end.” She wasn’t wrong.) She climbed Longs Peak (elev. 14,259’) at age 50 and was thrilled to rope up and climb a rock face on Lumpy Ridge at 55.
Kit was incredibly smart, unfailingly kind, and a snappy dresser. She loved books, naps, Jesus, Sudoku, ice cream, and our dad. She despised ugly behavior, the color yellow, brussels sprouts, and cooking. We’re not sure how she felt about the Oxford comma. Despite possessing a sly wit of her own, she was an even better audience for her husband and children, who all think they are hilarious. She had the same best friend for 72 years.
Kit was predeceased by her parents, Jack and Alma Tapers. She is survived by her husband, Rufus, daughter Halley Ortiz and husband, Thomas, and son John Wallingford and wife, Michelle Lee. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Grace Katharine Ortiz and fiance, Ford Johnson; Sarah Ortiz and husband, Rider Calhoun; John Rufus Wallingford; Emily Wallingford; niece, Ellen West Nodwell and husband, Gus; great-nephew Will Kilgore and son, Emory; and numerous dear Florida cousins, especially Mary Alice Ventre. She will be missed by longtime friends, Mary Ann Gray, Mike and Jodie Gallagher, Virginia Carmichael, Kitty Rabinow, and Bette Cartwright.
A memorial service will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 3816 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, Texas, on Friday, December 15, 2023, at 3:00 pm, with the Rt. Rev. Kathryn M. Ryan celebrating and the Rev. Eileen E. O’Brien preaching. A reception will follow in Hauser Hall. In lieu of flowers (and we’re really serious), please consider planting some native plants in your yard or making memorial contributions to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the Seminary of the Southwest, or Heifer International.
We are especially grateful to Amalia Cervantes for her loving care of Mom (and
Dad) for many years. We would also like to thank Dr. Shawn Chen, Lisa Tatom and Magnolia Hospice, and Belmont Village - Westlake Hills for their incredible love and care of Kit in her final year, especially Brittany, Joel, Sade (the Queen), Marie, Nelvis, Keybe, Jesus, Ivonne, Jenkins, Carolyn, Wanda, Ruth, Apolline, Marina, Herman, Chrystal, Gita, and so many, many others, who could always tease a smile out of Mom.