Emma Kathleen Handy

Emma Kathleen "Kat" Stewart Handy, a beloved Wife, Mother of four, Daughter, Sister,Friend, Businesswoman, Community Activist and Volunteer, unexpectedly died Tuesday morning May 31, at her home in Bastrop, Texas. She was 46. Kathleen grew up in Atlanta, a small Texas town located in the Ark-LA-Texas area. She was a fifth generation resident of Cass County, Texas and member of the First United Methodist Church of Atlanta, Texas. When she was 9, her family moved to Saudi Arabia, where her father worked as an engineer for Fluor. Kathleen learned Arabic, became the family bargainer with shopkeepers and traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Europe. Kathleen earned a degree in dental hygiene from Wharton County Junior College. She met her future husband in Houston, and as newlyweds they began their life together in New York City where her husband, Dr. James Handy, attended podiatry school in 1996. In 2003, they returned to Texas and opened the Bastrop Regional Foot & Ankle Center, where Dr. Handy is a podiatric medical surgeon. Kathleen managed the family medical business while initially working part-time as a dental hygienist. After the birth of her first child, she wholeheartedly took on the job of mother while continuing to assist in the management of the clinic. In 2013, Kathleen joined Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors, representing Bastrop County. She was re-elected to a second term in May of this year. She was a community volunteer and an organizing member of Bastrop’s newly formed National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter. She held a leadership position on the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery and volunteered with the Bastrop County Historical Society, Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry, Rotary Club and Calvary Episcopal School. She was a former board member of the Bastrop Education Foundation and the Children’s Advocacy Center, where she served several years as fundraising chair. Kathleen loved her family life in Bastrop and her role in the community. “You couldn’t ride me out on a railroad or kick me out now,” she once said. “I feel like I’ve lived here forever. It’s a wonderful place.’’ Kathleen was preceded in death by her mother, Emma Lucretia Thompson Stewart; paternal grandparents, Mack and Kate Wommack Stewart; and maternal grandparents, John H. and Emma Jane Willis Thompson. She is survived by her husband, James; their four sons: Alexander, Nicholas, Phillip, and Maximus; her father, James E. Stewart of Atlanta, Texas; her sister and brother-in-law, Tim and Amy Stewart Blanks of Kerrville, Texas; her mother and father-in-law, Walter and Joanna Handy of Crete, Greece and in excess of 50 first, second and third cousins. She also leaves behind countless beloved friends. Visitation will be held 6:00-8:00pm, Thursday, June 2, 2016 at Bastrop Providence Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday June 3, 2016 at Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Bastrop. Interment will follow at Fairview Cemetery. A Reception will be held following the Interment at the Bastrop Convention Center. In lieu of flowers a children's benefit fund has been set up at First National Bank for Handy's boys, Alexander, Nicholas, Phillip, and Maximus. The purpose of the fund is to honor Handy and to celebrate the life ahead of the boys for years to come. Contributions can be made in person or mailed to: First National Bank, Post Office Drawer F, Bastrop, Texas 78602. Account name; Dr. James Handy children's Memorial Fund.