Kitty Goodwin

A memorial service for Kitty Goodwin, 75, Clinton resident will be held 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2016 in the First United Methodist Church, officiated by Rev. Roland Youngberg. Burial will be held prior to the service in the Clinton Cemetery under the direction of the Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home. Kitty Sue Goodwin passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 18th 2016 on an American Airlines flight from Boston to Dallas. She went to sleep and did not wake up while seated next to her grandson, Matthew Goodwin Blakeburn, and in the company of her son-in-law, Dr. Robert Blakeburn, and his mother, Mary Jo Blakeburn. She spent her final days enjoying the company of her immediate family, including her daughter, Kristin, and grandchildren Chelsea and Christopher, on a long-awaited trip to celebrate the graduation of her grandson, Jason, and granddaughter-in-law, Meghan, with master's degrees from Boston University. Kitty was born on March 4, 1941 in Clinton, OK to Frances Littell Goodwin and Charles N. Goodwin and was a descendent of the city of Clinton's founders. She attended Nance Grade School, Wilson Junior High School, and graduated in 1959 from Clinton High School. She attended the Oklahoma College for Women in Chickasha, OK before receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and pursuing postgraduate studies at Oklahoma City University and the University of Oklahoma. Kitty taught speech, drama, and music at Clinton Public Schools, where she inspired generations of students in the theatrical arts. In her professional career, she worked as the costume designer for Oklahoma City's Lyric Theatre, as a grant writer for Carpenter Square Theatre in Oklahoma City, and as a set designer for the University of Hawaii's Opera Theatre Workshop. She acted on stages across the US and was a member of the Barbary Coast Players in Tripoli, Libya. As a director, she was a founding board member of the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association. In 1966, Kitty was one of the founders of the Southwest Playhouse in Clinton, where she directed the Playhouse's inaugural performance of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons". She once again directed "All My Sons" for the 50th Anniversary celebratory season this spring. She has been an integral part of the arts community in Western Oklahoma her entire life. Kitty received the Governor's Arts Award from Gov. David Boren in 1977, numerous awards for directing and acting, and was a 2013 recipient of The Hall of Distinction Award from the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association. Among her multifaceted professional pursuits, she at one time owned and operated the Downtown Café Clinton. She was a member of the P.E.O. Chapter FR and the Worth While Club, which she attended with her great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter. After the birth of her grandchildren, she attended Phillips Theological Seminary in Enid, OK and became a local licensed pastor in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. She served several churches across the state of Oklahoma and was an active member of the Walk to Emmaus. She is preceded in death by her parents, Frances Littell Goodwin and Charles N. Goodwin. She is survived by her daughter, Kristin Blakeburn, and son-in-law, Dr. Robert Blakeburn, both of Clinton, triplet grandsons, Christopher Blakeburn of Clinton, Jason Blakeburn and his wife Meghan Blakeburn of Boston, Matthew Blakeburn of Clinton and Milwaukee, and her granddaughter Chelsea Blakeburn of New York City. She is also survived by her former husband, Joe Hatcher, her brother, the Honorable Charles L. "Buzz" Goodwin and his wife Nancy Goodwin of Clinton, her sister, Anne Goodwin Miller of Fairfield, VA, as well as her nieces and nephews, Charles B. Goodwin, Suzanne Goodwin, and Ben Goodwin of Oklahoma City, and Molly Poole and Blythe Cantrell of Virginia. There will be a private family graveside memorial at the Clinton Cemetery. A public service of remembrance and commemoration will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Clinton on Tuesday, May 24th at 2pm, immediately followed by a reception for family and friends in her honor at the residence of Dr. Robert and Kristin Blakeburn. Donations in Memoriam may be sent to the Southwest Playhouse Fine Arts Center, Post Office Box 204, Clinton, OK 73601.