Kathy Marie Gross

Kathy M. Gross, 68, Barnes, died November 10, 2022 at the Washington County Hospital in Washington. Visitation will be Tuesday, November 15 from 1 to 8 p.m. at Ward Funeral Home in Washington. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held 10 a.m., Wednesday, November 16 at Ward Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Maplewood Cemetery, Barnes, KS. On July 4, 1954, a little firecracker was born named Kathleen Marie to Kenneth and Bessie (Rowe) Nudson in Manhattan. She attended school in Manhattan graduating from Luckey High School in 1972. Kathy married James Cook on August 4, 1973 and this union was blessed with two children, Mike and Kelly. Sadly, Jim died on April 18, 1980 in an accident. Kathy then met the next man who captured her heart, Delvin Gross, and after several years together they married on May 1, 2004 at their home in Barnes. Kathy worked as a cook at the Greenleaf Grade School, for the Greenleaf Grocery Store and drove a bus for the Linn School district. Then for over twenty years she worked for Blue Valley Telemarketing, first at Linn then at Home, KS. She retired in January of 2022. Growing up in Manhattan, Kathy worked at a small Mexican restaurant for two Spanish women and became an excellent Mexican food cook. She loved the food and would always like to try new recipes. She loved planting flowers, working in her yard and just floating in her pool to relax. Then she had grandsons, William, Owen and Quinn, and they were the highlight of her life. She would take them on Big Foot hunts, buried treasure hunts and would have pool parties with them. The fun she could create for the boys! Kathy could strike up a conversation with anyone that crossed her path, no matter the age. She was very outgoing and loved to be around people. They would go camping at the lake in the summers and she would have an ice cream party for her birthday for all to come. Preceeding her in death were her parents; husband, James Cook, mother and father-in-law, Dean and Helen Cook, brother-in-law, Doug Cook; mother and father-in-law, Verlin and Marion Gross; and brother-in-law, Scott Morgan. Survivors include her husband, Delvin; children, Mike (Leah) Cook, Clyde, Kelly (Jerry) Svanda, Washington; siblings, Don (Gaby) Nudson, Dave Nudson, Nancy (Doug) Jorgenson, Patty (Jim) O’Dell and Barbie (Al) Lewis; sisters-in-law, Gina (John) Murchison, Sondra Morgan; and brother-in-law, Delmar (Cherrie) Gross; three grandsons, William Svanda, Owen Svanda and Quinn Cook; and many nieces, nephews and friends. A memorial fund is established and will be designated later. Contributions may be sent in care of Ward Funeral Home, Washington. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Kathy Marie Gross, please visit our flower store.