Ms. Kathryn “Katy” Brown Stevens, age 65, of Fayetteville, passed away November 16, 2019. The cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her family confirmed.

Katy was born in Leavenworth, KS, on January 28, 1954, to the late Earl and Grace Brown. Dr. Brown’s career as a professor led the family to live in Kansas, Ohio, and Alabama for a time before settling permanently in Atlanta, GA, in 1965, where Katy, the middle child, was raised alongside her two sisters. Katy attended Georgia State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Weaving. In June of 1985, Katy married Hawley Stevens and gave birth to their only child, William, in December of 1986.  The family soon moved to Fayetteville, where Katy began her work in retail.  She used her academic degree as well as her natural gift of creativity to create arts and crafts throughout her life. She had a passion for jewelry making, but she was also gifted at fiber art, stained glass, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, and pottery.  She shared her work through her company Customworks, as well as through regional art shows, festival booths and retail stores. The highlight of her year was the annual G&L Gem Show in Franklin, NC, where she would meticulously select each and every piece to be used in her jewelry. After she was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2015, she donated scores of earrings to patients at Emory’s Winship Cancer Clinic in Atlanta, where she too received treatment.

Katy was both tough and caring. She never met a stranger.  A former hippie, she was a free spirit with an infectious personality. Katy was vivacious and usually the center of attention. She was strong and determined when she set her mind to something. She had a love of animals, particularly her dogs Callie, Luke, and Leia.

Katy was especially close to her son Will. During his childhood she was a Den Mother to his Boy Scout troop as well as Band Mom to the Fayetteville High School’s marching band.  She enjoyed chaperoning Will’s school field trips and even went with the marching band to England. The mother-son pair enjoyed vacationing together over the years, including their trip to Hawaii and their many visits to Disney and Sea World. Katy had an open heart and an open home, which was a safe haven for her son’s friends.  She loved having a home full of people to care for and feed her famous taco lasagna and meatloaf.

Her loving heart and outsized personality will be dearly missed by her family and friends.

Katy was preceded in death by her parents, Grace and Earl Brown.  She is succeeded by her son and daughter-in-law, William and Jennifer Stevens of Sharpsburg, GA; her sisters Barbara Brown Taylor (Ed) of Clarkesville, GA, and Jennifer Brown Moore (John) of Atlanta; her nephew Patrick Moore of Atlanta; and her lifelong friends Linda Bohanon of Fayetteville and Connie Welty of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Katy’s family is especially grateful to the round-the-clock caregivers who were her band of angels in the last few months of her life: Dina Lanier, Ruby Haynes, Nichelle Stewart, Olivia Whiley, Unique Capito, and Gloria Floyd.

Donations may be made in Katy’s memory to the Winship Cancer Clinic at Emory, the American Cancer Society, or the Fayette Humane Society. The Stevens family is being assisted by Georgia Cremation, 1086 Hwy 54 West, Fayetteville. Messages of condolence may be left at www.GeorgiaCremation.com.