Kathleen Isabelle Mickler Clemenz, 73, aka Mom, Momma, Nanna, Nanny, Kat, Koddy, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Meatball, Isabitch, Mrs. C, Mom C, Nanna C, Scrabble Whore, Save-the World-Kathleen, Cosmo Queen and Ms. Crabtree died on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026.

Her family was the most important thing to her. Son Colin and daughter-in-law Cat and granddaughters Anna, Livi and Emmy, and son Keenan and daughter-in-law Bean, and grandsons Kaden and Kameron, and former husband Peter, "the love of her life," filled her life with love and laughter. She was passionate about reading to her grandchildren and memorized books so they could "read' anywhere. She made sure they had home libraries with classics and award winners. She babysat and often joked that she spent more time climbing on playgrounds in her 60s than she did her whole childhood.

Siblings Sharon Sickler (her rock and best friend) Betty Bane and Maynard John Mickler, Jr, sister-in-law Shirel Clemenz, five first cousins, "The Taylor Girls," and brothers-in-law Robert Clemenz and his partner Rick Duplantier helped her navigate her stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis and provided care and companionship and so much love and support, not to mention food and taxi services. No one could ask to be surrounded by better people. She leaves behind many nieces, nephews, friends, former students, colleagues and two borrowed daughters: Sharnisha Wheeler O'Garro and Jessica Joly Crane.

After her family, she loved reading more than anything. The first question she asked after meeting someone new was always, "So what are you reading?" Every year Kathleen made a list of all the books she read and loved and thought others might enjoy. It started out as a scribbled summer chick list for a few students and morphed over the years to a formal list which circulated from Boston to Florida to Arizona and everywhere in between. A self-proclaimed nerd, she was quirky about her reading, reading only brand new hard-cover books. She could often be heard muttering that people who dog-eared pages should be shot. She had a collection of hundreds of bookmarks and believed you had to use the same bookmark for the whole book, no switching mid-book. She never stopped at the end of a chapter but always on a random page. She belonged to The Book Ends Book Club along with seven of her smart, sassy former colleagues from Westhampton Beach High School, where she was department coordinator and taught English for 32 years, loving every minute of it. She always said she went to school every day, not work, and what could be better than that!

Kathleen transformed her yard into a botanical garden with plants blooming from February through December. In the last few years, she planted extra vegetables so she could donate to the local food pantry. She was constantly at war with the deer but loved her birds and squirrels. She had over 20 bird baths scattered around the property, including a heated one for winter.

Family will receive friends on Friday, March 27th from 2:00PM - 4:00PM and 7:00 - 9:00 PM.

A Mass of Resurrection will be held at St. Rosalie's Church in Hampton Bays on Saturday, March 28th at 11:30AM.