KIRWAN, KATHERINE SEBOLT 93,of Louisville,died Friday, August 26, 2005, at Norton Suburban Hospital. She was the widow of Patrick S. Kirwan. She was a graduate of Atherton High School, attended Hanover College and graduated from the University of Louisville, where she also received her master's degree. She attended graduate school at Indiana University and the University of Maryland.

Mrs. Kirwan retired as assistant superintendent of the Louisville Recreation Department in 1937. She taught at Greathouse Elementary, Stivers Junior High and Waggener High School, where she taught English and journalism before retiring in 1976. At Waggener, she was the faculty adviser for the bi-weekly newspaper The Chit Chat. Under her sponsorship, the paper received national recognition and numerous awards. For ten years, Mrs. Kirwan was a consultant in the Advance Placement English Program of the College Board and for seven years, a reader in the Advance Placement testing in English and College Board testing. In 1978, Mrs. Kirwan began writing "Carry On," a weekly column in The Courier-Journal for retirees and other older readers which was one of the first such columns in the country. Among her numerous honors and awards were the National Award for Excellence in Journalism Program given by the Newspaper Fund of the Wall Street Journal (1962), the University of Kentucky School of Journalism Community Service Award (1980) and the Mildred Daugherty Award for English given by the Kentucky Council of English Teachers (1982). She was inducted into the first Hall of Fame at Waggener in 1997. Mrs. Kirwan was president of the Greater Louisville Council of Teachers of English, and helped establish the Greater Louisville High School Press Association, of which she served as president. She also was president of the Kentucky State Council for Journalism Education. She was a charter member of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union, a member of First Unitarian Church, the Speed Museum, the Nature Conservancy, and the former Arts Club of Louisville.

She is survived by her son, Michael Allen Kirwan and his wife, Carol, of Portland, OR.; her daughter, Kate Greer-Fischer; her grandsons, Sean Kirwan (Portland) and Michael Greer, and his wife Carolyn; along with her great-grand daughters, Alison and Shannon Greer, and her cat, Trouble. A memorial service will be held at her church at a later date. Expressions of sympathy may go to the First Unitarian Church's fund to purchase a new organ. Arrangements handled by Foreman's, Jeffersontown.
Published in The Courier-Journal on 8/28/2005.