Kathryn Calabrese

Kathryn Groth Calabrese, 77, of Cumming GA, passed away peacefully at home on September 17th 2024 after a lengthy battle with COPD. She was born on October 12th 1946 in Brooklyn, NY to John Groth and Catherine (née Egan) Groth.

Kathie was a woman of faith, an older sister, a beloved wife, a teacher, a thoughtful, strong-principled woman, a mother to three boys, and a grandma to 3 grandchildren. She taught religion for more than 35 years at the middle and high school levels, most notably at Immaculate High School in Danbury, CT, Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, CT, School of the Holy Child in Rye, NY. For the last 15 years Kathie taught at her beloved Marist School in Atlanta GA. Her strong Catholic beliefs, a love of education, and her interfaith ministry led Kathie to pursue service in those areas. She served as a board member of the Danbury Interfaith AIDS Ministry and was part of its inception in 1989. She was involved in weekly prison ministry at the Danbury Federal Women’s prison with her Emmaus Community. She was a tutor at Danbury Hospital in the 1990s ensuring children with long term stays would not fall behind. She helped enrich her students' lives by making iInterfaith Dialogue with local Jewish and Muslim peer communities, an integral part of the curriculum. Her ties in the community led her to serve as a board member for the Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University. With her husband Bob, she served as a Worldwide Marriage Encounter team couple. Kathie served time as both an executive board officer and national board member for The National Apostolate of Maronites for more than a decade. In 2005 she received the highest lay award issued in the Maronite community, The Gold Massabki Award, in honor of her decades of service both on the parish and national levels. Education was a cornerstone of who she was. She graduated from SUNY Albany with a double major in Biology and Rhetoric/Public Address. She earned her masters in Theology from The Maryknoll Seminary. She was quiet (until you touched on a subject she loved), and she was as unassuming as she was tenacious. Kathie never backed away when something needed to be done. That was the teacher in her.

Kathie is survived by Deacon Robert Paul Calabrese, her husband of more than 57 years, and her three sons David (Heidi), James (Mindee), and Jared (Hillary) as well as 3 grandchildren (Zachary, Mia, Egan). She is also survived by her sister, Beth (nee Groth) Thorsen. She was preceded in death by her brothers John and Robert Groth. .

A memorial service will be held at McDonald & Son Funeral Home on Friday October 4, 5-7pm, in Cumming, GA. A Funeral Mass will be held at St Joseph Maronite Catholic Church In Sandy Springs at 1pm on Saturday October 5. A Mercy meal will immediately follow the service in the church’s hall. A service of interment will take place Tuesday, October 8 at 1:30pm, at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to either St Joseph’s Indian School or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The school serves indigenous children with both education and faith while seeking to ensure their native heritage is honored and preserved. https://shorturl.at/VXbQP. St. Jude is dedicated to treating and curing pediatric catastrophic diseases, particularly cancer, through research, patient care, and education. https://shorturl.at/wz5N2