November 18, 1940 - November 14, 2020
Kathleen Marie (née Malowney) Diohep (Kathie) was born in La Jolla, California to George R. Malowney and Catherine K. Malowney and raised in Springfield, Ohio where she lived until she started college.
Kathie was the oldest of eleven children and part of a large extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. She worked from an early age first delivering newspapers with her brothers and then at her father’s Cement Block Plant. As part of a close-knit family, Kathie developed her life-long love of people: bringing people together, sharing stories, listening, and laughing.
She attended Our Lady of Cincinnati College but left after one year to start her teaching career at St. Mary’s school in Dayton. A natural teacher, she could command a class with ease. When she told a student to “straighten up and fly right,” the student did. In addition to St. Mary’s, she taught at St. Clement’s in Hayward, California. Kathie enjoyed a long career with Lodi Unified School District, teaching Fourth Grade at Leroy Nichols School and Creekside School.
She met and later married the love of her life in Ohio in late 1960. On their first date, Joseph Frederick Diohep (Joe) helped her hang a bulletin board her classroom before they left for their date. She said she married Joe because he was the kindest and most thoughtful person she had ever met. In 1962, after a ceremony in Springfield, they left for the adventure of a lifetime in California. First, they lived in the Bay Area, Hayward then Castro Valley. Kathleen Marie Diohep was born in 1963 and was followed by Susan Diohep in 1964. Kathie stayed at home with her daughters while they were young and then completed her degree and teaching credential at Hayward State University in 1973. In 1974, the family relocated to Stockton, California.
Kathie could enter a room full of strangers and bring them together in a conversation. She was a Girl Scout Troup leader, a member (and president) of the Junior Womens Group of Castro Valley, a member of American Association of University Women and a docent at the Haggin Museum. As a docent she shared the museum with her grandchildren, Clare Diohep Simpson, Hypatia Gregory and Tesla Gregory. She enjoyed being a grandmother and hosting holidays, birthdays and family outings.
After retirement, Kathie was caregiver for Joe until his passing in 2009 from a long illness. In her later years, she lived at O’Connorwoods enjoying activities, field trips, mystery dinners and the social environment. She served on the Residents Council. The family would like to thank the dedicated, kind staff at Oak Creek Assisted Living who provided care through a long illness. Kathie passed peacefully surrounded by her loving family, content in a life well lived, and family and friends well loved.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph F. Diohep, her parents, George and Catherine Malowney; brothers, Michael Malowney and Terry Malowney and sister, Jackie Malowney.
She is survived by: her daughters Kathleen (Roger Gregory) Diohep, and Susan Diohep; granddaughter Clare Diohep (Krista) Simpson; her siblings, George Malowney, John (Kathy) Malowney, Rosie (Richard) Tilton, Sharon Ann Porton, Georgeann Malowney Knoles, Mary Kay Yobbi, and Maureen Cramer; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Private services were held on November 23, 2020 and Kathie is in final rest at Cherokee Memorial Park.
