Click the video to watch the memorial service in celebration of Kathleen (Kathy) Coburn Donnelly's life. The service is taking place on October 29th, 2022.
Kathleen Adelaide Coburn Donnelly was born on August 10, 1935 to Isabel and Dwight Coburn in rural Carman, Manitoba. Kathy enjoyed farm life, and being the youngest and the only girl, took much teasing from three older brothers who adored her. From a young age Kathy had a compassionate heart for all baby animals and had some wonderful memories to share of her special times with her little lambs, piglets and kittens while growing up. After graduating high school, Kathy moved to Winnipeg where she earned her Fine Arts degree at the School of Art at the University of Manitoba in 1959 which launched her successful career as a Professional Artist and Printmaker. This was also where she met the love of her life Ray and they were married in October 1961. The next few years Kathy spent dabbling in various art forms until she settled into honing her skills and establishing a career in Printmaking. This art form requires an artist to etch or burn their work onto a metal plate or onto a lacquered card stock in reverse. Once that is complete the artist then adds ink to the plate, places the plate on top of the paper, then squeezes both through two rollers on a printing press to transfer the image onto the paper. Kathy’s passion to pursue this art form culminated in a very satisfying, successful career as a Professional Printmaker having many gallery showings and exhibitions over the years. Her works of art can be found today in private and corporate collections around the world. In 1965 daughter Lori came along and in 1977, Ray and Kathy realized their dream of country living once again when they built a home and moved to Sanford, Manitoba where they remained up until their move back to Winnipeg in 2014. One of Kathy’s biggest joys was serving her church community at Grant Memorial by volunteering her artistic talents for the Living Christmas Tree productions. Kathy and Ray were an incredible team as Ray did the set design models to scale for the team to build the sets from, and Kathy used her skills to paint textures and shading to these sets to turn wood and cardboard and other materials into realistic backdrops and landscapes. Kathy also shared these talents with other events at the church such as Ladies Night Out. Kathy had a humble, calming presence wherever she went. Her love for the Lord was unwavering and evident to all who knew her. She set an incredible example to everyone she met as to what it is to have a quiet confidence in a Holy Father and the gift of eternal life regardless of what your life circumstances are. Despite her health challenges over the last three months, Kathy was very determined to work hard to get better. She had a quiet contentedness about her such that no matter how difficult the circumstances got, she never, ever complained. Kathy was a dedicated, faithful, wife, mother, and grandmother who will be lovingly remembered and missed by her daughter Lori, son-in-law Gerry, and grandchildren Calahan, Capri, and Cayman Bettig along with brother and sister in law, Lee and Joyce Donnelly and family. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Kathy’s name to International Justice Mission at PO Box 88031 RPO Levi Creek, Mississauga, ON, L5N 8M1