Kathy Aunean Hawk Byrom of Denton, TX, passed away on Thursday, May 28, 2020, at the age of 60. She was born in Denton in 1959 to Cecil and Vonda Hawk and was the oldest of 4 children. Kathy grew up in Lake Dallas, TX, where she graduated from Lake Dallas High School in 1977. She earned her B.S. in Art Education and English from Texas Woman's University and continued her education with advertising and design courses at Southern Methodist University. Kathy attended Denton Church of Christ.

Faith was important to Kathy and, in turn, having a servant's heart. Her career focused on helping people, including many years as a case/social worker with Texas Department of Human Resources, teaching art at Chico ISD and working in the Office of Admissions and Registrar at TWU. She also worked for Standard Safety Services and TransWestern Publishing.

Kathy saw life as wondrous, with every day being an adventure. She loved creating arts and crafts, and also enjoyed seeing the works of others at fairs and art shows. She appreciated beautiful and whimsical things. Kathy had many culinary interests, as well, and considered food to be art. She collected cookbooks and enjoyed expressing herself by cooking gourmet and ethnic dishes with rare herbs and spices. Kathy also enjoyed riding her beloved horse, Gracie.

Kathy had a knack for keeping in touch with many family and friends throughout the years. She maintained many close friendships with classmates from Lake Dallas High School and TWU, as well as former co-workers, roommates and people she met along the way, everywhere. Kathy cherished people and relationships.

Community involvement highlighted much of Kathy's life, and her activities included participation in the Denton County Historical Commission, American Business Women's Association, Lion's Club, Denton Area Art Teachers (historian), Gold Wing Road Riders' Association, Denton Roundup Club, Lewisville Saddle Club, TWU Alumni Association, Pulmonary Hypertension Association and Dallas Calligraphy Society / Kalifrafos, among others.

For many years, Kathy fought a difficult battle with polymyositis and pulmonary hypertension. She never let illness define her, though. She made many friendships with others suffering from the disease and found great support in the group, and she was also a support for them. The close-knit group became like family, and she appreciated the connections immensely. Through it all, Kathy showed courage and strength when feeling bad and demonstrated an unsurpassed resilience. She never gave up. She found joy in all of life and stayed active with family and friends.

Kathy is preceded in death by her father, Cecil Hawk. She is survived by her mother Vonda (Whitlock) Hawk of Denton and sisters Linda Hawk (David Mathews) of Carrollton, TX, Sharon Belcher (Homer Lee Belcher Jr.) of Kingston, OK and Pamela Wilson of Denton. Her nieces and nephews are Lauren Hamilton (Shane) of Aubrey, TX, Homer Lee Belcher III of Kingston, OK, Brooke Traister (Chris) of Dallas, TX and Mitchell Mathews of North Myrtle Beach, SC. She also is survived by 4 great-nieces and -nephews: Brayden, Chloe, Eli and Mshai'lynn Hamilton.

A viewing will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 1, at DeBerry Funeral Directors, 2025 W. University Dr., Denton, TX. A graveside service will be held at Swisher Cemetery in Lake Dallas, TX on Tuesday, June 2, at 1:00 p.m. and will be officiated by minister Danny Hawk. Masks and social distancing are required for both events in this unfortunate COVID-19 environment.

Active and honorary pallbearers are Boyd Taylor, Scotty Baird, Danny Baird, Shane Hamilton, Homer Lee Belcher III, Chris Traister, Homer Lee Belcher Jr, David Mathews, Brian Gower and Brayden Hamilton.

Donations in memory of Kathy can be made to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, PHAssociation.org/donate/.