A Celebration of Life Service will be held Thursday, June 15th at 10:00 AM at the Jeffers Baptist Church in Jeffers, Minnesota, with Pastor John Keck officiating. Burial will be in the Mountain Lake Cemetery in Mountain Lake, Minnesota.

A time of visitation and gathering will be held on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at the LaCanne Family Celebration of Life Center in Windom. Visitation will continue for one-hour prior to the service on June 15th at the Jeffers Baptist Church in rural Jeffers.

Kathleen Kay (Hoien) Sawatzky was born on April 19, 1943, to Bruce and Melba (Foster) Hoien, in Estherville, Iowa. She was baptized in 1953 at First Christian Church in Estherville. Kathy attended Estherville Public Schools and graduated with the class of 1961. She continued her post-secondary education at Estherville Junior College, before transferring to Mankato State College, where she received a bachelor's degree in 1965 and earned her teacher certification.

On July 21, 1967, Kathy was united in marriage to Donald Herbert Sawatzky at the First Christian Church in Estherville. The couple was blessed with a daughter, Angie. Kathy worked as a librarian. She was employed with Hedberg Public Library in Janesville, WI for 15 years, where she retired in 2006.

Kathy served as a volunteer for Hedberg Public Library and the Cottonwood County Historical Society. She was active as a church librarian, Deaconess and Sunday School teacher. Her hobbies and interests included reading, crossword puzzles, word finds, traveling, embroidery, counted cross stitch, sewing and cooking.

On June 9, 2023, Kathy passed away peacefully at Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Lakefield, Minnesota.

Kathy is survived by her husband, Don of Windom; daughter, Angie Sawatzky of Windom; siblings, Nancy Beck of Sioux Falls, SD, Pat Hoien-Dalen of Oreana, IL, and Jim (Chris) Hoien of Raymore, MO; brother-in-law Ron (Rita) Sawatzky of McFarland, WI; as well as other relatives and friends.

Kathy was preceded in death by her parents, Bruce and Melba Hoien; brother, Steven Hoien; and brothers- and sisters-in-law, William Beck, Duane Dalen, Louis and Esther Sawatzky, Adeline and Walter Penner, and James and Rosalie Sawatzky.

Blessed be the memory of Kathleen Sawatzky.