Kathryn Christine Moessner

Kay Moessner, age 84, died on Friday, December 18, 2020. She was born Kathryn Christine Moessner on May 8, 1936 to Walter and Irma (Crampton) Moessner. She had fond memories of the summers she spent as a young girl at Camp Pendalouan where her father was the YMCA camp director. Her love of nature and birds stems from those summers at camp. Another place dear to her heart was her Uncle Donald and Aunt Helen (Crampton) Foster's cabin on Jose Lake in northeast Michigan. She would spend from two to four-plus weeks there for many summers, from childhood through much of the 1990s. Time was spent at the cabin with extended family enjoying activities including swimming, picking blueberries, golf outings, and of course, looking for deer on evening drives in the jeep. She graduated from Muskegon High School in 1954 and graduated from Central Michigan University in 1958 with her bachelor's degree. In fall of 1958 Kay began her career teaching Physical Education at Grand Haven High School. Kay went on to earn a master's degree in education from Western Michigan University. She retired in 1994 after teaching at Grand Haven High for thirty-six years. Kay was the first women's basketball coach at Grand Haven High, coaching from 1974 - 1979. She guided two of her teams to the district finals in the state basketball tournament. She greatly enjoyed working with and coaching her basketball teams. Kay was a decades long member of United Methodist Church of the Dunes. At church she was an active member of the Mary Circle of UMW. Kay was an avid reader, and an active member of a book club that originated out of Central Methodist Church in Muskegon. She was also a long-time member of the CS-CY chapter of PEO. Kay also loved to travel. She enjoyed two trips to Europe, once accompanying her sister Barb on a choir tour, and another time on a trip to Scandinavia with both her sisters and her brother-in-law. Kay had a wonderful sense of humor and was not afraid to laugh at herself. She loved music of many genres, with Nat King Cole being one of her favorites. She also played flute throughout high school and college, participating in marching band and woodwind ensembles. Kay's three dogs, a Cairn and two West Highland terriers, were a great source of companionship over the years. Kay loved watching birds, feeding birds, and having many bird figures around her house. For those of us who are deeply saddened by her death, I can easily imagine her telling us the following: "If you want, you can listen for me in the song of a bird. May that song let you recall memories of the friendship and love we shared." Kay is survived by nieces and nephews, John (Mary) Koeppe of Madison, WI; Robert (Karen) Koeppe of Ann Arbor, Barbara (James) Higdon of Ann Arbor, and great nieces and nephews, Erika and Andrew Koeppe, Katy Higdon, and Sarah (Alexander) Higdon Gay. She was preceded in death by her parents, sisters JoAnn Koeppe and Barbara Moessner, and a brother-in-law Owen Koeppe. A public memorial service will be held sometime later in 2021. Memorial donations may be sent to:United Methodist Church of the Dunes (https://umcdunes.org/) or Grand Haven Schools Foundation Endowment Fund or the The Grand Haven Area Community Foundation Scholarship Fund. c/o the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. Donations may be made online at www.ghacf.org or by mailing a check made out to the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation at 1 S. Harbor Dr., Grand Haven, MI 49417. Please include the name of the fund in the memo line. Please visit www.clockfuneralhome.com to leave a memory or sign the online guestbook. Clock Funeral Home - Muskegon