Kathleen Baas | Obituary | The Daily Item – Sunbury Daily Item

Funny. Supportive. Sincere. Buoyant. Generous. Selfless. Witty. Compassionate. Fighter for Others. Calm. Dedicated. Faithful. Spiritual. Beautiful. Tough. Encouraging. Kind. At a 70th Birthday Party for Kathleen Anne Baas on Feb. 27, 2021, about 100 ZOOM-gathered friends, family, and colleagues made a “Word Cloud” for her, including those glowing adjectives. Kathleen, who died too soon on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, was certainly all that, and more. How does that happen? Kathy would offer her wryest smile and say it was circumstance, but anyone around her would cite clear intention, an uncommon inner strength, and an indomitable spirit.

She was born Kathleen Anne Horkay in Orange NJ in 1951, daughter of Rosemary (Sulpy) Horkay and Stephen W. Horkay, now both deceased.

Kathy was a Registered Nurse for just shy of 50 years, having graduated from Mountainside School of Nursing, Bloomfield NJ, in 1972. In 1975, she earned her BS in Nursing, Magna Cum Laude at Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA.

Kathleen Baas was a mother, twice. Diane Kathleen Baas is now an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of New Orleans. William Gerard Stropnicky earned his BS in Biology at Lycoming College, his MS in Biology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and is now employed at CVS/Caremark.

Kathleen Baas was a wife, twice, with two gloriously happy marriages. When her first husband, Warren G. Baas was killed in an industrial accident in 1978, she was widowed at age 27 while seven months pregnant. How does anyone survive that? When asked, she simply stated she had no choice. “Stand firm, be smart, face things head on, enjoy the beauty of nature and the company of family and friends, and get up when you get knocked down”.

She had her faith, which in the challenge of that moment certainly became more complex. Could she still love a God that would do that? Yes, she could, but perhaps in a different way than any who might confuse personal prosperity with divine blessing. She knew from her love for Warren that loving never stops, and that unending love was the center of her understanding of the Divine.

About two months after Warren’s death, she had her daughter, Diane — the loving bond between those two is a force beyond nature that endures even now, even beyond death.

As a single mother, Kathy experienced first-hand the judgmental “side-eye” society throws at those outside artificial expected norms. “You have the start that you anticipate,” said Kathy as we started writing this obituary a few days ago, “but that anticipation gets broken in an instant. You make plans, but you can’t allow your plans to stop you from doing what you see needs to be done.” Before long, she was counseling other widows, other single mothers. She became a social activist, working to change the systems that keep women marginalized. Over time, her empathetic energy defined her consistent mission: her kind eyes noticed anyone cast aside, and she found ways to serve them.

For 16 years she worked with the Keystone Rural Farmworker Health program, bringing health services to migrant workers in Pennsylvania fields. She served elder residents of long-term care facilities and those at the end of their lives in Hospice. Seeing a clear need for more, and more caring nursing assistants, she spent decades teaching in Nurse Aide Programs, preparing candidates for clinical certification. In the course of her final illness, she regularly found herself cared for by her former students: the last Certified Nurse Assistant who tended to Kathy as her own Hospice Aid had been her student in 2015.

We’re getting ahead of the story. With Diane now a toddler, Kath re-entered the working world, teaching LPNs at the Danville Area School District Practical Nursing Program. Her co-workers nudged her to try “going out” again. On one of the blind dates these friends arranged, she met Gerard Stropnicky; to their unending surprise they fell in enduring love. Jerry became her second husband on Aug. 16, 1987, and third member of this family already in progress. This past August, Jerry and Kathy celebrated 34 years of marriage.

In 1988, Kathy gave birth to son William G. Stropnicky, the fourth of this blended “Baasnicky” quartet, adding more wonder and new challenge to the mix. When William was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), plans adjusted again. Seeking understanding and strategies so Will might thrive consumed the family. While William made enormous progress and largely left behind his need for supports, Kathleen experienced first-hand the frustrations and isolation a family with an autistic child endures. She knew that many ASD children don’t respond to therapies as William had, and that’s no-one’s fault. She and Jerry became facilitators of the local Autism Support Group, then sought to build stronger bonds between its participants. They developed the idea of holding a weekend camping experience so families touched by autism might experience “regular” activities free of fear of judgment.

It is something of a miracle that CampEmerge works at all. Social activities are not the strong point of autistic children, and do not seem to be their desire. Yet, there they are in their unique ways, having a blast together: swimming, boating, fishing, making crafts and toasting marshmallows. CampEmerge creates a relaxed and accepting atmosphere of warmth, learning and new experience. Hundreds of families have benefitted over 22 years; the effort is ongoing.

In addition to her founding leadership of CampEmerge, she has served as a member of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Board of Trustees including one term as President, on the board of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters (she would moderate candidate debates!) and as a Board Member of the Nicholas Wolff Foundation’s Board of Trustees. That Foundation is the parent organization of Camp Victory, a Special Camp for Special Kids in Millville, PA. A faithful member of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Riverside, PA, she worked with the United Methodist Women, and served as Chair of Pastor/Parish Relations.

Kathy’s writing has been published in The American Nurse, and The Pennsylvania Nurse. She has presented on panels at Penn State’s National Autism Conference, the Columbia-Montour Women’s Conference, and others. She received the Susan K. Nenstiel Humanitarian Award from the American Association of University Women/Pennsylvania, the Outstanding Alumnae Award from Cedar Crest College, and was named Outstanding Woman in 2000 by the Columbia-Montour Women’s Conference. In November 2004, Woman’s Day Magazine named her a recipient of the “Shining Star National Award.”

“We don’t make ourselves,” she said as we were pulling this together. “We are shaped by others. My parents. Grandparents, uncles, aunts. My wonderful sisters, Mary, Joan and Carol. Then their husbands, then their kids. And now their kids’ kids. Cousins! So many cousins! In-laws, Warren’s Family, your family. Everyone I’m related to. Everyone! School friends! Since Kindergarten. Fellow West Essex High School band members. The women I went through Nursing School with — we were pretty much all women then. Colleagues, neighbors, friends. Our enormous CampEmerge family. And our cats, our dog, who all taught us more about love. They are all a part of me, and I guess I am part of them. I want to thank them all, by name if I could. The world makes something out of you, and then, if you have the chance, you make something back.”

She adds, “I simply did what my faith asks me to do. When I see the face of someone in need, I see the face of Jesus. How could I turn away?” [Matthew 25: 31-46.]

On Thursday Oct. 14, 2021, her body could no longer contain her spirit.

Kath had been under siege from Pancreatic Cancer for 17 months; she knew the end of her life was approaching, but with her own perseverance and the help of her gentle and skilled oncology teams, she achieved her goals for this past year, including Christmas, getting to a glorious June beach wedding in Florida, and to her beloved week with family on Long Beach Island, NJ. She planned her last days. She knew to embrace life in the midst of death, and her transition was peaceful, in her own room in her own home, surrounded by close family and a global circle of love of her own creation.

Because of the continuing pandemic, and her never-ending concern for the health of others, Kathleen A. Baas will be interred in her family plot in Restland Memorial Park, East Hanover, NJ, in a graveside service at the convenience of the immediate family. Once COVID passes, stay tuned for two joyous Celebrations of her life, one in New Jersey, the other in Pennsylvania.

In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial gifts in the name of Kathleen A. Baas to the Warren Baas Scholarship at Bucknell University (Bucknell.edu), Lycoming College (Lycoming.edu), CampEmerge at Camp Victory (Campvictory.org), Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (bte.org), or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Brady Funeral Home, Inc. Please share memories and messages of support at www.BradyFuneralHome.com