Kathleen Ann Reis

It is with deep sorrow and much love we mourn the passing of my beloved wife, our mother, grandmother, great grandmother, cousin and friend, Kathie (Kathleen) Reis, on November 20th at the age of 79 following a rare diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). She passed away peacefully in her family home surrounded by her hero of a husband, Mike (Michael) Reis, and close family by her side.

Kathie was born in 1943 to Edward and Mary Gladys Sousa. Her father unfortunately passed away early in her life, so Kathie was raised by her mother, whom she loved with all her heart. Kathie has joined her mom affectionately known as "Goose", dad, brother John and son Jeff in heaven.

At the age of 19, Kathie married her high school sweetheart, Mike Reis, and started a beautiful life as one spending over 60 tender and happy years together.

Kathie is survived by her husband, Mike Reis; three daughters: Debbie Reis-Bastiaans (Lou), Denise Walker (Patrick), and Diane Adams (Kirk); grandchildren: Michael Mora, Priscilla Kostopoulos (Kevin), Robert Walker (Bridgett), Brian Walker, Austin Adams, and Cole Adams; great-grandchildren: Lola and Nikko Kostopoulos, brothers and sister-in-law, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

During Kathie's career, she spent twenty-one (21) years working at Mira-Costa High School and Aviation High School and was loved and adored by the faculty and students. She also was elected and served a dual role as California School Employees Association Union President where she worked passionately to ensure, reinforce, and champion the rights of her fellow colleagues.

Amongst Kathie's many passions in her life, her all-time favorite was painting, and she was an accomplished award-winning artist. She belonged to the Torrance Art Guild and Palos Verdes Art Center where she displayed her artwork and participated in countless art shows. Kathie meticulously painted a large number of paintings sharing many of them during the pandemic with her community. She was revered by many artists in the community. Kathie also cherished her friendships, loved to bake and cook (especially chocolate chip cookies with the grandkids). She also enjoyed walking in the neighborhood and was playfully deemed "Mayor of the Neighborhood", as she always was stopping to chat and check in on all her neighborhood friends. Kathie also enjoyed frequent trips abroad to Europe with her husband and family.

Kathie was an amazing, inspirational and caring individual who spent most of her life thinking and caring about others and making the world a better place to be. A memorial service will be held for Kathie in January 2023, details to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks you please donate in Kathie's name to one of the following organizations:

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation: https://themmrf.org
Lymphoma Research Foundation: https://lymphoma.org