Obituary of Katherine Louise Muhly

Katherine L. Muhly passed away on August 2, 2010 at 1:47 p.m. at the end of a slow decline after a stroke in January of 2009. She was born in Baltimore, MD, on February 13, 1921, to Harry E. and Anna (Townsend) Muhly. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Goucher College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Theta Tau honorary societies. She earned a Masters of Nursing at the Yale School of Nursing in 1945, before joining the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. She served in the Philippines and in the occupation of Japan after World War II. In 1950, she joined the nursing staff at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where eventually she moved into nursing administration. She retired from the UIHC in 1984, but in retirement, she was active in the Visiting Nurse Association and volunteered at the Iowa City Public Libraries. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Harry T. Muhly and his wife, Isabel, and by her nephew, Alan E. Muhly. She is survived by her niece, Catherine R. Muhly, of Brooklyn, NY, her nephew, Paul S. Muhly (Linda), of Iowa City, and their children, Alexa (Keith Murphy) of Chicago, and Aaron (Angelika) of Budapest, Hungary. To her adult friends and colleagues, she was known affectionately as Kit. Although her immediate family was small, she befriended numerous youngsters – in Iowa and beyond – and became known to many as Aunt Kitty. Indeed, to children of a certain age, she was revered as much as Santa Claus. The difference was that as the children grew, their love for her increased, as did her love for them. She was a dedicated nurse to the end and spent her life caring for others. She has donated her body to medical science at the University of Iowa. Memorials may be sent to the VNA at http://www.vnaic.org/contrib.html. Online condolences may be sent for her family through the web @ www.gayandciha.com. Aunt Kitty will be missed.