VINTON:  Kathleen M. Whitson, 83 died Monday, September 18, 2006 at Virginia Gay Hospital following a sudden illness.  A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 AM., Friday, September 22, 2006 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with Father David Ambrosy as Celebrant. Friends may call at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, 212 E. 6th St., in Vinton from 4:30 to 7 PM where a Vigil Service will be held at 4:30 PM.    A memorial fund has been established.
   Kathleen was born May 11, 1923 at Van Horne to Frank and Gladys (Coghill) Woods.  She was the Valedictorian of the Van Horne High School Class of 1941.  She then attended Cedar Rapids Business College in Cedar Rapids for two years.
    On February 10, 1944 she married Richard Whitson at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Van Horne.
     Kathleen was employed at an Abstract Office, the Production Credit Association, and Hawkbilt Mfg.  Prior to her retirement she served as a Legal Secretary for Jack Milroy at the Milroy Law Office for fourteen years.  In her leisure she enjoyed fishing in Minnesota every year, trips to Yellowstone and Mackinac Island, reading mystery novels and collecting matchbooks, spoons, stamps and coins.  She was an avid sports fan who loved the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Chicago Cubs.
     Survivors include her husband, Richard Whitson of Vinton;  her sons, John (Gwynne) Whitson of Vinton and Jim (Joan) Whitson of Oskaloosa; her daughter, Sandy Johnson of Vinton; her grandchildren, Jason (Tosha) Whitson of West Des Moines, Morgan and Darren Berthusen of Oskaloosa, Diane (Jeff) Kenney, Steve (Jeanne) Johnson, and Amy (Ryan) Noe, all of Vinton; and her great grandchildren, Bailey, Ashton, and Abbigail Whitson of West Des Moines, and Karley and Cassie Kenney, Daisy, Kort and Charlee Johnson and Erica , Elizabeth and Austin Noe, all of Vinton.
     She was preceded in death by her parents; her infant son, Michael Joseph, her son-in-law, Denny Johson and her great granddaughter, Ashley Marie Noe.