Kathryn Nelson Morton was born on March 13, 1972, in Peoria, Illinois to the union of John Patrick and Rita Rose Batolomucci. This marriage was later dissolved. Rita then married Richard E Nelson, and the family moved to Island Lake, Il, then later to Wheaton, Il, where Kathryn attended elementary school and junior high school. During Katie’s time growing up in Wheaton, she participated in various sports activities that included organized little league baseball and cheerleading. Katie was known as one of the better players on the teams. She was also very talented at acting and singing. So much so that she landed the lead role of Annie in a grade school production of the popular stage play. Kathryn’s family later moved to Overland Park, Ks in 1985. Katie always reminisced about how the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl and the Kansas City Royals won the World Series that same year, so the family experienced the best of both worlds. Kate attended Shawnee Mission South High School and graduated in 1990. After graduation, Kathryn was in a relationship with Cody Conser, and to this union, a daughter, Audrey, was born. After extremely careful consideration of the circumstances, it was decided that Audrey would have a better life via adoption. An agreement was made between Kathryn and Audrey’s parents that she would remain a part of Audrey’s life and maintain contact. As agreed, Kathryn maintained a loving relationship with Audrey until her transition.

Kathryn then married Brian Palcher in 1997, and this marriage was later dissolved in 2007. Kathryn attended the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology in May 1996. She continued her education while working, and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from UMKC in May 2002. She also received certification in “Secrets of Successful Technical Writing” from Rockhurst University in 2002. She also completed *The Dispensary Staffing and Operation Training Program: Leafy Green Agency” in 2019. Kathryn was very self-motivated and conscientious throughout her life. She started working at Pumper nicks, with her brothers, Mark and Joshua, at the age of 14. She also worked at Western Auto prior to completing her college education. After college, her career was well established in the field of Chemistry. Kathryn worked as an Analyst at the Community Blood Center (1992-1999). Kathryn then worked as a Quality Control Analyst in manufacturing, and as a Bench Chemist in the Analytical labs at Aventis Pharmaceuticals (1999-2004). Kathryn was also a Lab Manager and Chemist at RDMG research (2004-2005). Kathryn was then hired as a Scientist by Catalent Pharma Solutions and worked there from 2005 until 2014.

Later in life, Kate married Joseph Morton on January 11, 2014, and to this union, a son, Sloan Morton, was born. After Sloan was born, Kate and her husband, Joseph, agreed that she would put her career as a Scientist on hold, and pursue the ultimate career, being a stay-at-home Mom to raise and care for Sloan. She did an amazing job with Sloan’s early development through reading, taking him to various activities, and enrolling him in Alpha Montessori school at the age of 3. She also ensured that he was visited and assessed by an early child development counselor prior to starting Alpha Montessori. She was very active in Sloan’s educational activities by volunteering for numerous events and always donating her time in any way that she could. She was an amazing and nurturing Mom. Sloan’s well-being was always her main priority. Kate enrolled Sloan in various summer and swim camps. She also enrolled him in Piano lessons and encouraged and supported in Tae Kwon Doe (where Sloan received his Black Belt).She was also responsible for organizing and managing several wonderful birthday parties for Sloan. She was also an incredibly awesome wife and took great care of her husband, Joseph, while managing the daily activities of the home. During this time, Kathryn also did free-lance technical writing projects. One of which was a published guide for General Chemistry students. She was truly an “over-achiever”.

Katie was extremely beautiful inside and out. She was very intelligent, well-read, athletic, adventurous, and conscious driven. She also very much loved the outdoors. Some of her tremendous milestones accomplished in life included completing the Chicago 26-mile marathon, hiking Mount Rainier with her Dad, Richard Nelson, and ex-husband, Brian, participated in skydiving, hiked and ziplined with her husband, Joseph at Lake Travis in Austin, Tx, and most recently, cycled over 225 miles on the Katy Train with her brother, Joshua, and nephew, Henry, in the summer of 2025. She was also an amazing “dog mom” to Zeus. She would always take him to the dog parks to ensure that he got the proper exercise. She very much enjoyed meeting her brother, Joshua, at the Shawnee Mission dog park over the weekends. She was very modest and would only casually mention these amazing feats if the conversation led to the related subject matter.

She also enjoyed traveling with destinations including Tennessee, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, London, and most recently, Vancouver British Columbia. Kathryn was very socially active. She was a member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters and served as a big sister to two young ladies, one of whom she maintained a relationship with until her transition. She also participated and was very active in various causes and organizations. She was a member of the American Chemical Society, ACLU, and the NAACP. She was also an active contributor to the Wounded Warrior Project, St. Judes Children Hospital, Disabled Veterans, the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Sandy Hook Promise, and the American Cancer Society. Kathryn would make numerous trips to various Goodwill and Thrift stores to make donations and support them through shopping as well. She was extremely courageous and active in ensuring that her voice was heard, and she championed a lot of causes.

She had a great sense of humor! She was very clever, quit-witted, and very outgoing. An individual would be hard-pressed to spend time around Katie without laughing at some point. She could bring joy and laughter to the most boring of situations. She loved stand-up comedy, sitcoms, and music. Some of her favorite stand-up comics included Mitch Hedberg, Maria Bamford, Dave Chappelle, and Brian Regan. Some of her favorite sitcoms included Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Mr. Show, and South Side, to name a few. She was also particularly fond of the movie, The Big Lebowski, and was known to pay homage to “The Dude” on occasion. She was also an avid collector of frogs of any kind, whether it be figures, garden statues, photos or paintings.

Kathryn also had an enormous vocabulary and was extremely knowledgeable. Regarding games shows, she specifically enjoyed Jeopardy, and she could answer several of the questions while watching the show. Some of her favorite bands and musicians included Tool, The White Stripes, Bon Iver, Black Sabbath, Tenacious D, and Prince just to name a few. She enjoyed gardening and knitting as well. She was also very gifted with art and crafts. She took a lot of joy hand-making Sloan’s Halloween costumes during his earlier years. These costumes included Julius Ceasar, Young Frankenstein, Prince, and Thomas the Train. She was very health conscious, stressed exercise and recreational activities, and was a strict vegetarian. Kathryn was an all-around extraordinary and radiant individual. She was amazing at interior design, and everyone who visited her homes would complement her on how cozy and well decorated they were. Kate also participated in a monthly woman’s Bunco group. She very much enjoyed these gatherings and in turn, everyone enjoyed Kate’s lighthearted humor. She had a broad scope of interests in a variety of categories. She was a true “Renaissance Woman” in every sense. Kate loved her family and friends dearly. She would always help and support them in any way that she could.

Unfortunately, starting in 2022, Kate started to experience late onset mental illness. Despite the challenges that the illness presented to Kathryn, she continued to be a loving, caring, and conscientious individual. She was so worried about what people thought about her because of the recent illness. This concern was unfounded. All who knew Katie loved, respected, and cherished her. Her close family, friends, and neighbors never lost sight of who she was. She was the brightest of lights and no illness could ever dim that light or tarnish her precious memory.

Kathryn was so passionate and compassionate, that she was pursuing a Master’s degree at Washburn University at the time of her death in Counseling and Mental Health. She had also worked as an intern at Mirror, Inc. She wanted to use her experiences to help others.

After leading such an amazing journey, Kate transitioned on March 30, 2026. She was proceeded in death by her maternal grandparents, Joseph and Jane Roth, paternal grandparents, Mark and Nancy Nelson; and Pete and Jean Bartolomucci, Brother, Mark Nelson, Dad, Richard E Nelson, Father-in-law, George L Morton, and other relatives and friends. She leaves to mourn her departure, husband, Joseph Morton, and Son, Sloan Morton, of the home, daughter, Audrey Caroline Lovett, Tampa Bay, Fl, Mother and Stepfather, Rita and Tom Miller, Overland Park, Ks, Father and Stepmother, Pat and Julie Barolomucci, Peoria IL, Sisters, Amanda Christian (husband Eric) of Dunlap, Il, and Amber Bartolomucci, Peoria, Il, brothers, Joshua Nelson, Prairie Village, Ks, and Trevor Batolomucci (wife: Audrey), Washington, Il, mother-in-law, Alice Morton, Kansas City, Mo, Sister-in-law, Janice Morton (husband: Thomas), North Kansas City, Mo, and a host of nieces and nephews, uncles, cousins, and friends. She will be dearly missed by all of those who knew her! Those who knew her couldn’t help but love her!

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race; I have kept the faith”.

A Celebration of Life, also known as the “Katie Party” will be held in Kate’s honor on May 2, 2026, at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center, 11902 Lowell Ave, Overland Park, Ks, 66213, from 5pm - 8pm. This event is informal, come and go as you please during this time slot.

The family requests that donations be made to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Kate’s memory. Donations can also be made to the various causes that Kate supported in her memory as well.