Julia (Judy) Kattner Rosenauer

Our kind, patient, and loving mother, Julia (Judy) Kattner Rosenauer passed from this life on October 16, 2021, to join our father, Wilbert Kattner and our step-father, Richard Rosenauer in heaven. She was 98 years old. Mom was born the fifth of six children on a small farm near Ross, Texas on April 15, 1923, to Fred Zahirniak and Marie Kudelka. She spent her formative years helping with the farm chores and picking cotton. She used to joke that as the fifth child her weekly Saturday evening bath was taken in water already so dirty from the previous four children, she couldn’t see her feet in it. And still she felt sorry for her youngest sister.

She attended Ross School through 9th grade; then went to West High School where she captained the women’s basketball team and was a cheerleader. After graduation she and her eldest sister, Irene, moved from West to Waco. She first waited tables for her uncle at the Deluxe Café in downtown Waco. There she became friends with a regular customer, another young woman, who told her about a better job at American Optical (AO) in Waco. Manufacturing eyeglasses for American GIs fighting in World War II would change her life forever. Her boss at AO told her he wanted her to meet his favorite nephew – our future father – who was serving with the Army Air Forces in the South Pacific. They began corresponding and finally met when dad was home on leave. They fell in love and after he left the service they were married.

We were born in 1947 and 1950. During our school years mom served as a room mother, Cub Scout den mother, and vacation bible schoolteacher. She cheered loudly at our Little League games and Richfield HS track meets. With two active sons banging themselves up regularly she nursed the bloody knees, elbows, and broken arms (one for each of us). Occasionally when we sassed her or misbehaved, she would exclaim those immortal words heard by children everywhere, “You just wait until your dad gets home!”

In 1970 our dad died unexpectedly, and she became a single parent to two young adults – one still a college student, the other venturing out into the world after college. She offered advice when requested, listened patiently to our complaints about an unfair world, soothed our broken hearts, and supported our careers in public education and the military. She began attending Western Heights Baptist Church in Waco where she met Richard, our stepdad. They were married in 1980. Throughout their marriage they took many road trips across the United States and Canada until Richard died in 2019. After his death she moved into Providence Village. Despite all the changes towards the end of her life she never lost her sense of humor and her optimistic nature.

Judy is survived by her two children: oldest son, Gary Kattner and his partner, Mary Jane Schott of Austin, Texas and youngest son, Chris Kattner and his wife, Donna of Conroe, Texas; grandson, Ryan of Los Angeles, CA; granddaughter, Jennifer Mitchell and husband, Shane of Conroe, TX; grandsons, John David Kattner of Conroe, TX and Patrick Kattner of Brooklyn, NY; and a great-granddaughter of Los Angeles, CA. She is also survived by her favorite nephew, Daryl Votaw and his wife, Kaye of West,TX.
The family would like to thank her friends at Western Heights Baptist Church and the staffs at Providence Village Assisted Living, St. Catherine’s Skilled Nursing, and Providence Hospice for their kindness and comfort in the last years of her life.

Memorials may be given in her name to Western Heights Baptist Church, 6301 Bosque Blvd, Waco, TX 76710.

A family only graveside service will be at Rosemound Cemetery on Thursday, October 21 at 2pm with her pastor, Kip Osborne officiating. She will be buried next to our father.