Catharine "Kitty" Wilson Kasemeyer, a former Baltimore Sun purchasing agent and manager, died of undetermined causes Dec. 13 at the Charlestown Retirement Community. The former Catonsville resident was 96.
Born Catharine Woods in Baltimore and raised on Rosekemp Avenue in Hamilton and in Riviera Beach, she was the daughter of James Woods, who owned a transportation coal business, and Anna Woods, a homemaker. She attended the Baltimore Academy of the Visitation in Roland Park, where a cloistered nun named her Kitty. She then boarded at Mount DeSales Academy in Catonsville and was a 1936 graduate of Glen Burnie High School, where she played basketball and was the team's center. She also enjoyed field hockey and swam. She won an award for her jitterbug dancing.
Mrs. Kasemeyer received a diploma from the Strayer's Business College and took classes at the University of Baltimore.
After working at Simkins Industries in Ellicott City, she joined The Sun in 1963 and became the newspaper's purchasing agent. She retired in 1983. In 1981 she was named the first woman president of the Newspaper Purchasing Management Association.
Mrs. Kasemeyer taught swimming at the YWCA in downtown Baltimore. She was a duckpin bowler in the Inner Alley Major Leagues.
She was a co-founder of the Baltimore Sunpapers Retirees Association. She belonged to the National Secretaries Association, Executive Women's Association and the Arbutus Travel Club.
"Kitty was a proud and lifelong Baltimore resident," said her granddaughter, Lauren Lacey, an attorney who lives in Marriottsville. "She loved her hometown teams, the Orioles, Colts and the Ravens, and her hometown sweets, Rheb's candies, dark chocolate vanilla butter creams, and Berger cookies."
A season ticketholder to the Baltimore Colts, she was a member of the Colts Corral at the Caton Tavern and kept football memorabilia in her basement.
Her granddaughter said she lived every day believing that "if you have your health, family and friends, you have everything" She also said, "If you think you love your children, wait until you have grandchildren."
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, Maiden Choice Lane in Catonsville.
In addition to her granddaughter, survivors include her son, Robert W. Wilson III of Columbia; a daughter, Kathleen Wilson Culotta of Catonsville; three other granddaughters; nine great-grandchildren; a stepson, Scott Kasemeyer of Towson; and two stepdaughters, Robin Kasemeyer and Karen Kasemeyer Marks, both of Marriottsville. Her first husband, Robert W. Wilson, died in 1962. Her husband, Edward R. Kasemeyer, a retired plumbing supply worker, died in 2013.