Obituaries

'Kitty' Ptacek Remembered for Her Devotion to Students

Ptacek, of Whitefish Bay, spent several years teaching Lake Bluff elementary school students in Shorewood.

Colleague and friend Jennifer Cosgrove said Kathryn "Kitty" Ptacek devoted her life to the elementary school students she taught at and fellow educators she worked alongside.

"She cared deeply about the people around her, and this was evidenced daily by her thoughtful questions and genuine interest in the lives of others (and the chocolate she gave out in emergencies)," Cosgrove said at a funeral service held June 28 at the First Unitarian Church in Milwaukee. "She genuinely lifted the spirits those she was around."

Ptacek, of Whitefish Bay, died June 25 after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 61.

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As a teaching assistant in the elementary school's advanced learning program for the past four years, and a substitute educator for many before that, Ptacek felt a special commitment to her work.

Cosgrove said she worked closely with Ptacek for 3 1/2 years on many programs including the Junior Art Docents, the math curriculum, and the school's spelling bees.

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"She was employed to work four hours of the day, but she would rarely just stay the four hours. She would always work past that," Cosgrove said. "It was sort of an ongoing joke between us, how much she worked."

Lake Bluff Principal Kirk Juffer remembered when Ptacek substituted for another teacher who was having surgery. Ptacek rounded up the classroom and took them to see their teacher and serenade her.

"Kitty, like so many of our teaching assistants, was well educated and had the skills and abilities to run a corporation but chose rather to spend her time helping children and teachers," he said. "She was a person who brought good cheer and conviviality to every room she entered. Her intelligence, curiosity and genuine care for others made her a valuable asset in the lives of children and a gift to our school. I have never known a tougher, more reliant and hopeful person."

Even as she battled cancer for years, many didn't know Ptacek's struggle because she was always warm, positive and rarely dwelled on it, Juffer added.

"She had some wicked bouts of chemotherapy but would be in school a day or two after with a smile on her face and ready to help children," he said. "She never gave up hope that she could beat her illness. Our school community was blessed by her presence."

When she wasn't in school, Ptacek loved to visit her son Joe, whom was a singer studying at Macalester College in Minneapolis. She was a foodie, Cosgrove said, who loved to try different restaurants.

Ptacek is survived by one son Joe, her husband John, brothers Michael (Debra), Chris (Amy), Joe and sisters Susie, Julie and Gerrianne (Jamie). She is further survived by her extended family as a sister-n-law to Joseph (Lynne), Louise, James (Bonnie) and Kathy (Joel), and aunt to many nieces and nephews, according to a death notice published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.


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