Kathryn Hoss

Kathryn Elaine Dolan Hoss, 74, of Fargo, died at home among loved ones on August 29, 2019, after a short journey with cancer. Kathy was born on November 15, 1944, in Kenmare, ND, to Glenn and Lois (Hansen) Dolan. Kathy graduated in 1962 from Kenmare High School and enrolled in the nursing program at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo. It was there that she met orderly and college student Jim Hoss on the psychiatric ward. After graduating in 1965 and working in the hospital’s newborn nursery and psychiatric ward, Kathy married Jim on June 18, 1966, in Bismarck. They spent 53 years together, relocating to Wisconsin and California before returning to Fargo in 2009. Kathy and Jim raised four daughters—Sue Hoss (John Meyer) of Des Moines, IA; Amy Hoss (Curtis Knight) of Mt. Shasta, CA; Beth Hoss (David) Hagler of Atlanta, GA; and JoEllyn Hoss of Fargo. Kathy loved being a mom and taught her daughters to cook, sew, grow houseplants, and play Scrabble. As much as she loved motherhood though, grandmother-hood was an even better deal, and her three granddaughters, Taylor Proctor of Boone, NC, and Greta Knight and Isabel Knight of Mt. Shasta, delighted her immensely. A voracious reader, Kathy had a dedicated library with floor-to-ceiling shelves packed with her vast collection of books. In addition to satisfying her reading habit, Kathy enjoyed playing bridge with her “bridge sisters” at the Sons of Norway Lodge in Fargo, going out to lunch and debating politics with her girlfriends, collecting recipes and cookbooks, and doing puzzles of all stripes, from jigsaw puzzles to crosswords and Sudoku. She had a flair for interior design, loved a buttery chardonnay, instilled the importance of family dinners in her kids, and celebrated big holidays with food and decorating traditions that her daughters carry on to this day. Kathy was preceded in death by her father, Glenn, and dear school friend Judy O’Keefe from Colorado. She leaves behind her husband, Jim, her mother, Lois, sisters Gay (Walt) Wicklein of Baltimore, MD, and Pat Jones of Bismarck, as well as relatives and friends from coast to coast. Equally dear to her were her friends Melanie, Merlina, Phyllis, and Carol, as well as classmates from St. Luke’s—women with whom she shared many laughs, tears, and stories that meant the world to her. A celebration of life is being planned for November 15th in Fargo and for the spring/summer of 2020 in Mt. Shasta. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Chromosome 18 Registry & Research Society (chromosome18.org) in San Antonio, TX; CalTrout (caltrout.org) in San Francisco, CA; and Hospice Red River Valley (hrrv.org) in Fargo.