Biography: Kathryn Elizabeth King Bost died August 9, 2024, 4 days shy of her 103rd birthday. She was born August 13, 1921, in Clarksville, Arkansas, to William Ernest and Hattie Eustice King.
 
Kathryn’s life was a marvel. She sought fun, laughter, joy and happiness every day of her life. She had an exuberant personality, and the energy to make use of it. She could not tolerate not living life to the fullest, and most days she accomplished it, even until the last weeks and months of her life.
 
This is what she loved:
She loved to talk any way possible. She was talking before her head left the pillow in the morning. It was said of her that if she stopped talking, to call 911. She loved to talk at the bridge table, the lunch table, the beauty parlor, on the phone. Another comment about her was that her shortest phone call was 15 minutes, and that was because she had the wrong number.
 
She loved handwork of every variety. She always had at least one project in the works. She was one of the few tatters left. She made matching dresses for her 3 girls throughout their childhood. She knitted baby booties and blankets for all the babies she knew, and a lot for babies she did not know. She needlepointed covers for all her dining room chairs. She counted cross-stitched mystical angels. She crocheted tablecloths. She quilted queen-sized quilts for each of her grandchildren, every stitch by hand. All of this was done with flair and flourish.
 
She loved playing the piano, anywhere she could, anytime she could —- whether in her children’s Sunday school classes, at Robinson Auditorium, at a silent movie, at a party getting everyone to sing along. Whenever she finished a hard job or life knocked her back, playing her piano or organ would restore her spirit and vitality. A concert Steinway piano was named for her at the University of the Ozarks, her alma mater.
 
She loved politics, Democratic politics, that is. She was a yellow dog if there ever was one. She loved Cardinals baseball, football —- especially the Hogs, basketball —- especially the Hogs. She loved a contest of any kind, the energy and intensity they brought. She loved bridge or checkers; she never was one to shy away from any good scrap.
 
She loved Clarksville, Arkansas. To her, Clarksville was always a little bit of heaven. Even though her mother died when she was only 7, Kathryn thrived in the loving atmosphere of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. There, she learned to make friends easily, a skill on which she capitalized throughout her life. To the end of her days, she never met a stranger.
 
She loved her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren —- all so very different. If any of them began veering too far afield, she did not hesitate to remind them who was the matriarch. Yet she thrilled at the spectrum of abilities and interests they grew into.
 
Most of all, she loved her husband Roger. Theirs was her most intense relationship, nearly every day for 69 years. She knew him all her life. She did not like him as a child going through school together. Then, the summer she graduated from college, he returned home from a summer job. He walked her home from her best friend’s wedding across the street. They sat on the front porch swing. By that evening, they both just knew, was the way she always put it. They married on June 23, 1944, in a wedding at her family home. She brought her tenacity to bear on being the homemaker so he could focus on his work. Whatever he needed, she made it happen —- whether it was a late dinner or moving across the country. She moved with him from Little Rock when he finished medical school, to San Antonio for his internship, to Fayetteville for his naval service posting, to Duke University for his pediatric residency, to New Orleans for him to practice at Ochsners Clinic, to Fort Smith for him to open his own private practice, to Little Rock for him to become a professor of Pediatrics at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital and to serve in the Bumpers and Pryor Administrations. She did not just support his work; she celebrated his career. She took such pride in him, and called herself Mrs. Roger Bost until the day she died. During his declining years, a friend commented that God had a real fight on his hands trying to wrest Roger away from Kathryn.
 
Make no mistake, she was no passive wife. Theirs was a real partnership. The Christmas mornings when he would have to leave to see a sick child, the vacations that would start a day or two late, the many nights she put the children to bed by herself, when he retired 3 different times —- those were constant challenges to her character of finding the fun, feeling the love in life.
 
Kathryn never sought glory, status, fame or money. The stars in her crown were her family, friends, relations, and all the fun she could have with them.
That was her true purpose, her North Star, her legacy. In 2004, she suffered a life-threatening heart condition and was in a coma for over a week. When she regained consciousness, she told her grandson, “I want you to remember me with joy.” In her last days, as her family would come to visit —- her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her lasting words to each of them were, “Have fun. Find a way to laugh every day, and be happy. And always remember how much I love you.”
 
Kathryn is predeceased by her husband, Dr. Roger Browning Bost, her parents, her step-mother, Vera Misenheimer King, her brother Ernest King, Jr., and a multitude of aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, and relations of every sort. Surviving her are her children: Kingsley and Linda Bost of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Becky and Rett Tucker of Little Rock, Margaret and Gary Faulkner of Little Rock, Virginia and Dennis Berner of Russellville, and Kevin and Jeanne Gao of Ridgewood, New Jersey. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Kyle Bost and Maria Garcia of Midland, Texas; Cody and Felicia Bost of Kansas City, Missouri; Kathryn Tucker and Gabe Mayhan of Ojai, California; Clarke and Toni Tucker, Andrew and Jenny Faulkner, Adam and Stacey Faulkner, Betsy and Matt Abbott, all of Little Rock, Keith Berner and Cara Couch, Gary and Ryan Berner, all of Fayetteville, Dean Berner and Rachel Beauregard of Nashville Tennessee, Sophia Gao of New York City and Audrey Gao of Boston, Massachusetts. Her surviving great-grandchildren are Noah Bost, George and Ralph Bost, Tucker and Coco Mayhan, Ellis and Mari Francis Tucker, Libby, Ava and Crews Faulkner, Kate and Meg Faulkner, Amelia and Bo Abbott, Lois and John Berner, Ruby and Hazel Berner, and Sienna and Beata Berner. She is also survived by her nieces, Dianne Renkus of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Janette Hawkins of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Kathryn Kish and Alice Kutz of Springdale, and her cousin Stephanie Qualls of Franklin, Tennessee. Finally, Kathryn is survived as well by her special private-duty caregivers, including Elmer Goins, Jr., the staff of Presbyterian Village and the staff of Gentiva Hospice.
 
A memorial service, organ recital and reception will be held to honor her life at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral on Wednesday, August 21, at 10:00 a.m. There will be a graveside service at 2:00 p.m. at Oakland Cemetery in Clarksville.
 
Memorials may be made to the University of the Ozarks, 415 No. College Ave., Clarksville, Arkansas 72830, or the Bost School, Inc., 5812 Remington Circle, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903.  Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com