Kathryn Annette Fritschel Gerard
August 3, 1936 – August 15, 2024
Kathryn (Kay) Annette Gerard, née Fritschel, 88 of Sugar Land, Texas, died peacefully at home on Thursday, August 15th surrounded by her family. Kay was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, the second child of Reverend Walter and Nina Fritschel, and grew up in Charles City, Iowa. After graduating from high school as co-salutatorian, she attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1958. In 1964, she earned a master’s degree in European history from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Kay was part of the fourth generation of the Fritschel family who immigrated from Nuremberg, Germany and was descended from a long line of theologians. Sigmund Fritschel, a newly ordained Lutheran minister, arrived in the United States in 1854 and settled in Dubuque, Iowa where he founded the Evangelical Lutheran Iowa Synod. Sigmund’s mission was to teach and promote the Lutheran faith, a faith that was instilled in future generations of the Fritschel family. Kay’s father, a theologian and Lutheran minister in Charles City, Iowa, inspired Kay’s Christian faith which was the cornerstone of her daily life.
Kay taught high school history, first in Iowa and then in Wisconsin. With her degree in European History, she accepted a teaching position in 1966 at the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon. This position allowed Kay to travel extensively within the region and observe first hand the origins of many of the Bible stories and experience places that her father had referred to in many of his sermons. While living in Beirut, she met her future husband David (Dave) Gerard, a petroleum engineer. They married in 1968 with her father presiding over the ceremony. Together, Kay and Dave continued to live and travel around the world extensively, including residing with their new young family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Singapore before returning to the United States and settling in Sugar Land, Texas.
Kay was not shy, and with every new place of residence, she always found a fellowship and became an active member of the community. In Singapore, Kay flexed her journalism skills and wrote for the Singapore American producing many newsworthy feature articles, such as an interview with then Ambassador Harry E.T. Thayer and an investigative piece on the mysterious disappearance of the ‘Silk King’. She was an integral part of shaping the newspaper into a respectable print media source. At New Hope Lutheran Church in Missouri City, Texas, Kay was an active member volunteering as assistant minister, communion steward, and reader for services, singing in the choir, and attending the women’s Bible study. She also was elected to and served on the church council in different capacities. While her children were growing up, she was very involved in their activities and spent countless hours taxiing them from practices and competitions and serving as team mom, coach, and chaperone. In her 40’s, Kay learned to play tennis and fell in love with the game. For many years, she dedicated Monday mornings to HLTA matches. To this day, some of her most cherished friendships can be traced back to the tennis courts.
Another of Kay’s enduring passion was classical music, and she found such joy in attending Houston Grand Opera performances season after season. Her husband helped fuel her passion for professional sports, and she became a true Houston sports enthusiast, supporting the hometown teams through thick and thin, keeping track of players’ statistics, and even partaking in a few superstitions to guarantee a win for the good guys. The Astros were her favorite and at the time of her death, Kay owned 16 jerseys, thanks to the generosity of a family friend, and wore them every chance she got.
In retirement, Kay and her husband built a comfortable home in Southern Colorado. This home was her oasis where she delighted in spending the summers taking long hikes with her dogs, savoring the natural beauty, and entertaining family and friends and the occasion bear.
Kay had a true zest for life. From computers to photography to cake decorating, if she wanted to learn how to do something, she did! Forever the optimist, Kay found joy and beauty in each day, even after Parkinson’s disease took practically all of her abilities and independence from her. A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, Kay was known for her faith, generosity, and outgoing ready-for-anything spirit as well as for her deep love for desserts, especially anything chocolate. Although we selfishly wish she was still with us, we find comfort and inspiration in her legacy of faith, resiliency, and love.
Kay is survived by her two daughters, Ann Chauvel-Gobin and Dawn Gerard; her nieces, Lynne Obermeyer and Kathy Obermeyer; her grand-nephew, Eric Obermeyer; her grand-niece, Allison Kellert; her son-in-law, Christophe Chauvel-Gobin; and her two grandchildren, Alexandre Chauvel-Gobin and Isabelle Chauvel-Gobin. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dave Gerard; her parents, Reverend Walter and Nina Fritschel; her sister, Barbara Obermeyer; her brother-in-law, Louis Obermeyer; and her nephew, Mark Obermeyer. Along with generations of family, she also leaves behind countless friends who loved her dearly.
All obituary information has been taken from the funeral home, newspaper or other online resource.
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