We are deeply saddened to share news of the passing of Kathleen Lyons, former executive director of the Center for Interfaith Relations and an unwavering champion of our mission. Kathleen died peacefully on Monday, Oct. 7, surrounded by loved ones. She was 92.
“After years of caring for and serving others, our beloved Professor Kathleen Lyons shall be resting at peace with her Beloved Creator,” says Christina Brown, a founder of CIR and longtime friend to Kathleen. “We shall miss Kathleen daily, but her gifts shall be everlasting — living on in her writings and serving as a model we shall always cherish.”
Though our hearts are heavy with grief, they also are filled with gratitude for the bountiful gifts Kathleen shared over the years, not only with CIR, but with her beloved hometown of Louisville, the Cathedral of the Assumption, and the many students she inspired.
During a 2013 Fascinating Women of Faith event, Kathleen said: “The thing about our city that I appreciate the most is the diversity of our faiths.” Kathleen dedicated much of her life to celebrating this diversity, and as an organization, we benefited immensely from her leadership. For those who had the privilege of knowing Kathleen personally, our lives were made better by her warmth and wisdom, and for that we are grateful.
Kathleen touched countless lives through her leadership at CIR and as a longtime professor at Bellarmine University, where she taught English for many years and chaired the English Department. She had a brilliant mind and poetic soul, but perhaps more noteworthy was her beautiful heart.
“We have been blessed at CIR with many extraordinary volunteers, leaders and inspirers. We pause this morning to remember, celebrate and mourn Kathleen Lyons, who was each of those,” says Turney Berry, chairman of the CIR Board of Directors. “Always a teacher, Kathleen was in every way a thoughtful and caring presence for her family, her friends, and all of us through all of her days, even to the very end. God’s abundance is all around, and we remember with joy and thanksgiving the still, quiet voice of our dear Kathleen.”