Kathleen Diane Fritchie, 67, of Prairieville, Louisiana, formerly of Loogootee

She spent her final days basking in love and peace, surrounded by her friends, children and grandchildren. 

 Kathleen Diane Fritchie (née Craney) was born on March 15 th , 1954 in Jasper, Indiana to Mary Helen Craney (née Doyle) and Victor Joseph Craney, and was baptized in St. Martin’s Church in Whitfield. Kathleen (Kathy) was born into a loving home full of seven sisters and three brothers. She was the youngest of eleven children and adored her older siblings. She often shared fond memories of her early life on the homestead in Loogootee with her children and friends. It wasn’t an easy life, but it taught her the importance of family and hard work. It also ingrained in her a love of animals which she carried throughout her life. 

 Eventually her parents moved the family to Indianapolis for work, where Kathy graduated from Franklin Central High School. After high school, she married Thomas Gardner and started a family, beginning with her eldest daughter Leslie, followed in short order by her eldest son Jeffrey. Despite having a young family with two children, she managed to find it in herself to complete her nursing degree at Marian College, from which she graduated in 1980, and immediately began her nursing career in Beech Grove, Indiana. As she grew her own family with her third child Kevin, she helped countless families expand their own while working for many years in labor and delivery, and neonatal intensive care units. Her sense of adventure and her admiration of her older sister Rosie eventually led her to move her family of three children to sunny Florida where the family spent numerous exciting years together. Throughout her life, Kathy was always split between her desires to build an amazing life for herself and her children and always wanting to be close to her large, extended family. This dedication led to the family’s brief one year return to Vincennes, Indiana, where the family lived when her fourth child, Sean was born. 

 While in Florida, Kathy and her family spent innumerable weekends and vacations boating and basking in the sun on the beach with her sister Rosie. It was during her time in Florida while working as a nurse at Shriner’s Hospital for Children that Kathy met John Fritchie, MD, who was training as an orthopedic surgeon. John and Kathy fell in love, and they bounced around Georgia and Louisiana for a couple of years while John completed his training. During this period, Kathy gave birth to her youngest child Mary Annelise. Despite struggling to make ends meet, Kathy asked that her youngest son Sean join the family in New Orleans. Although it was a challenging period for her family, their house was full of love. This time was one of the happiest periods of Kathy’s life, made even happier still by the birth of her first grandchild, Daygan. After John completed his training, the family moved to central Louisiana where John joined Mid-State Orthopedics, and Kathy’s middle child Kevin left Florida to live with the family in Louisiana. Kathy and John purchased an old hunting camp in Pineville, LA, where the entire family spent many years refurbishing, reshaping, and expanding the house along with its surrounding land. The family’s efforts culminated in a 22-acre homestead with a full stable, riding arena, and Kathy’s equestrian training facility, KF Gold, of which she was extremely proud. 

 Tragically in the spring of 2001, Kathy lost both her husband John and her mother Mary. Everyone that personally knew Kathy knows just how devastating these losses were to her. Luckily for Kathy and her family, it was during this tumultuous period that she met and subsequently married Mark Manchester. During Kathy’s marriage to Mark, the family relocated to the Prairieville/Gonzales area of Louisiana and Kathy welcomed her second grandchild Dorian into the world in 2001. During her time in Prairieville, just outside of Baton Rouge, Kathy met her fourth and final husband Kean Day, MD. While in Louisiana, Kathy continued to work as a registered nurse, and was a case manager for regional home health visits and hospice care. 

 In 2012 Kathy traveled to New York to meet her third grandson Taggart and in 2014 she welcomed her first granddaughter Nolan into her loving arms. Although she stopped practicing nursing in 2014, Kathy religiously maintained her nursing license and was registered in the states of Louisiana and New York at the time of her passing. 

 It would be an understatement to say that Kathy adored being a nurse. In addition to her day-to-day activities in the NICU, Labor and Delivery, and home health, she was a passionate educator. As an educator, Kathy spent her time instructing fellow nurses and new mothers about prenatal care and lactation. She was a nurse’s nurse who brought comfort and care to thousands of families over her three decades of nursing. 

 In addition to her professional pursuits, Kathy loved to sing and dance. In her adolescence, she enjoyed her time as a cheerleader, and majorette, and she maintained a life-long love of gymnastics. She loved live plants and enjoyed growing roses, hibiscus, ferns and Devil’s Ivy. She thrived competing Hunter Jumpers before growing a love for training horses.  Kathy loved doting upon her children, and grandchildren, and feeding anyone that looked hungry. Her specialties included chicken and noodles, vegetable beef stew, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, peach cobbler, banana pudding, and cherry delight. Kathy was a pie and ice cream enthusiast with an indomitable sweet tooth. 

 Despite her strengths, her hobbies reflected her weaknesses, which included horses, dogs and McDonald’s Cokes. Kathy was a vibrant personality, full of life, and her last request was that her family host “a big Irish party”, meant not to mourn her death, but to celebrate her rich, colorful life. Her firm belief that she would see her parents, Rosie, Eddie, Eula, and John in heaven one day carried her through life and removed any fear she might have had.  

 Kathy was preceded in death by her father Victor Joseph Craney, her husband John Ashley Fritchie, her mother Mary Helen Craney, her sister Rosie Cecelia Boese (née Craney), her brother Victor Edward Craney, her sister Eula Louise Traylor (née Craney) and four nephews. 

 Kathy is survived by her children Leslie Dawn Gardner, Jeffrey Ryan Gardner, Kevin Patrick Gardner, Sean Michael Gardner and Mary Annelise Fritchie; her grandchildren Daygan Victor Gardner, Dorian Ambrose Gardner, Taggart Yung Chiu Gardner, and Nolan Teng Xing Gardner; her sisters and brothers Theresa Elizabeth Berry (née Craney), Mary Sue Crouse (née Craney), Beverly Ann Carrico (née Craney), Louis Joseph Craney, Martha Ruth Green (née Craney), Ronald Leo Craney, and Rita Helen Lillpop (née Craney). 

 A Visitation will be held from 9am-11am, on Saturday January 29th, 2022, at Saint Martin’s Catholic Church (520 Whitfield Rd. Loogootee, Indiana). 

A Mass of Christian Burial will follow the visitation and will begin at 11am, Saturday January 29th, 2022 at Saint Martin’s Catholic Church in Loogootee. Burial will follow in Saint Martin’s Catholic Cemetery, followed by a meal in celebration of her life at 12:30 in the Church Hall. 

For those that wish to celebrate her further, her extended family will also be hosting a “big Irish party” at 4pm Saturday, January 29th, 2022 at the American Legion Loogootee Post 120 Country Club (607 Church Street, Loogootee, Indiana). In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the KF Gold Memorial Foundation in her honor. Condolences may be made online at www.blakefuneralhomes.com.