Katherine Margaret Dickens

On an unusually cool morning in May, at 1:22 a.m., just after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Western Conference semifinals, a beautiful baby girl was born to Michael and Maggie Dickens in Decatur, TX. It was May 16th, 2004, the first day of a beautiful journey with a perfect angel named Katherine Margaret Dickens.

As first-time parents, Michael and Maggie learned the ropes on childrearing together. The first few months had their typical challenges with sleepless nights and frequent diaper changes. But at four months old, Katherine started to exhibit some concerning symptoms. Michael and Maggie took her to Cook Children’s Hospital and learned that she was having infantile spasms- intractable seizures. Katherine had up to 30 seizures per day. After months of testing and multiple admissions into the hospital, she was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, an energy production disorder, that would eventually cause the dysfunction of all her organ systems. By the age of 12 months, Katherine was left without vision, hearing, or the ability to swallow. Michael and Maggie were told that Katherine would have a short life span, possibly only 2 years.

Katherine Margaret passed away at home peacefully on August 23, 2026, at the age of 22 years, 3 months, and 7 days. She was surrounded by her family and friends. Before her death, Katherine had a full life with her family, including her siblings: Topher, Caroline, and Claire. She traveled with her family to Michigan, Arizona, Disneyworld, Chicago, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean. She traveled many times out to Alvord to her Grammy’s farm as well. She loved to swim in the TWU Adapted PE Aquatics Program and participated in their classes every week for 17 years. Katherine attended school in Denton ISD for a few years, where she met some lifelong friends. On many occasions, Katherine could even be found at work alongside her mother. Katherine had many pets that loved her, and you could always find one by her side, or in the case of Trouble the cat, on her chest. Her most recent dog, Ainsley, could be found sleeping in her room at some point of each day. Katherine played a part in school drop-off and pick up as her siblings grew through the years. She attended many Denton ISD events that her siblings were participating in, including tennis matches, orchestra and band concerts, track meets, and football games to watch the Pride of Bronco Country marching band. She was a regular audience member at dance performances for the Denton Dance Conservatory. Katherine was an honorary runner at each of her five “Kure for Kat” 5 K races which raised money for research with the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.

Although Katherine was globally affected by her disease, she was mostly content day to day. In her younger years she would roll around on the carpet until she ran into a piece of furniture. She had a noticeable “birdie face” that was easy to recognize as her happiness. Katherine touched many lives and was loved by so many through her lifetime. Caring for

her was a joy to her family, who truly believed that God entrusted them with the care of this perfect angel. Katherine is already so incredibly missed. The absence of her noises and gestures creates an indescribable emptiness, but we take solace in knowing that Katherine is in Heaven with Jesus, her Lord and Savior and we will be reunited one day. We are incredibly grateful to the men and women of Cook Children’s Healthcare System for the caring treatment they provided throughout her life.

Katherine is survived by her parents, Michael and Maggie Dickens of Denton; her siblings, Topher, Caroline and Claire Dickens of Denton; her grandmother, Gay Dickens of Alvord; her grandfather, Bobby Dickens of Sanger; her great-uncle and great-aunt, Tim and Anne Casteel of Muskegon, MI. and many other relatives and friends in Texas, Michigan, and Arizona.