In memory of Katie “Kay” Behnke (Garlow).
Born Catherine Rachael Anna Rhodes on Dec. 2, 1926, in Newell, W.V., Katie, as she preferred to be called in her later years, was the youngest of six children. Katie had a full, healthy and blessed life.
Her parents, George and Florence (Arnold) met at the famed Laughlin China Co. where they worked. Her mother died when Katie was only 5, and at the age of 8 during the Great Depression she was sent to a foster home until she was 16.
During World War II, Katie was part of the Women’s Land Army that worked the Victory Farms. She was also a “Rosie the Riveter” working at a Hoover plant in Ohio that produced munitions during the war.
Katie attended Moody Bible College in Chicago, Ill., to pursue her dreams of becoming a missionary. Then in Fairmont, W.V., she attended Grace Tabernacle Christian College.
Katie was very active in the church and sang in a quartet on the radio on Sundays. There she met John Richard Garlow, son of John Dewey and Dorothy Mae (Moran), and fell in love. They married in 1947 and had six children before moving to Charlotte, Mich. in 1963.
As in West Virginia, Katie continued to work full-time, was active in her church and was a devoted mother. She was well known for her baking – especially her pies and incredible apple dumplings.
In 1972, she moved to Gladstone in the scenic Upper Peninsula of Michigan and married her beloved William Hugh Behnke.
Avid gardeners, Katie and Bill worked hard and enjoyed ice fishing and hunting together.
After Bill’s death, Katie moved to Texas to “retire” and be near two of her children. Retirement didn’t suit her, so she moved back north to Ohio to live in the same little town she had as a foster child. Finally, moving back to Texas in 2005, Katie enjoyed retirement living at The Pegasus Villas in Dallas.
Katie was called by the Lord suddenly in Dallas on the evening of Jan. 12, 2009. She was 82 years old.
Katie was preceded in death by husbands, John and William; her eldest daughter, Rachael; and step-daughter, Jackie.
She is survived by her children, David Lee Garlow of Charlotte, Mich., Timothy Allen Garlow of Lexington, N.C., John Richard Garlow II of Dallas, Mary Beth Hartline of North Richland Hills, Texas, Joseph Paul Garlow of Fowlerville, Mich., and her step-children, Judy Behnke-MacInness, Jeri Behnke-Elliston and William Behnke II, all of Charlotte, Mich.; plus 22 much-loved grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Kay