- Date Of Birth: August 31, 1956
- Date Of Death: November 29, 2021
- City: Mount Holly
- State: New Jersey
Kathleen “Kathie” Mary Papasso, 65
Okeechobee – Kathleen Mary Papasso died on November 29, 2021. She was born on August 31, 1956, in Mount Holly, New Jersey. She grew up in Haddonfield and Marlton, New Jersey, and graduated from Shawnee High School in 1974. She graduated from Burlington County Nursing College in 1976 and while living in Indian Mills, New Jersey worked as a Health Care Provider. She moved to Margate, Florida in 1984 and continued to work as a nurse. When she relocated to Okeechobee, Florida in November 2004, she began working for Dr. Hass and eventually retired in 2014.
Mrs. Papasso owned and operated Big Lake Hobbies, Fine Art by Papasso, and Park Street Gallery. She served as Director at Large for the Arts for the Okeechobee Art Alliance and was an active member of the Okeechobee Kiwanis. Her love of animals, especially ranches and puppies, combined with living in harmony with nature in Okeechobee, along with her and Joe’s ability and love to travel, led her on an incredible Artistic Journey where beauty of nature was her pallet.
She was a self-taught artist and became an exceptional artist with her original painting sold in seven different countries and fifteen states. Her work has been on display locally in Park Street Gallery, The Brown Cow, the Okeechobee Art & Cultural Alliance, the Backus Gallery in Ft. Pierce, and the Dolly Hand Performing Arts Center in Palm Beach County, Florida. She loved to share her talent and techniques with others who wanted to learn.
Her love of animals, especially puppies, led her to serve as a managing volunteer at Trail of Hope this past year. At this local no-kill animal shelter, she successfully adopted out hundreds of abandoned dogs.
Mrs. Papasso was preceded in death by her infant brother, Thaddius Oliver Toth, and her sister, Debbora Spinella.
She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Joe Papasso; son, Joseph Papasso, IV (Charlotte), all of Okeechobee; daughter, Teresa Kemp (Chris), of Grovetown, Georgia; grandchildren, Joseph Papasso, V, Anthony Papasso, Matthew Kemp, and Emma Kemp; one great-grandchild; brothers, Theodore Oskar Toth, Jr., of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Timothy Owen Toth, of Avon Park, Florida, and Thomas Oran Toth, of Chatsworth, New Jersey; and sisters, Gertrude Ann Wilson, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, and Amelia Jones, of San Jose, California.
