Kathleen “Kathy” Clare (Zambrowicz) Pigeon
Kathleen “Kathy” Clare (Zambrowicz) Pigeon passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, October 4, 2020, following a courageous battle with ALS. Kathy was born on February 13, 1945, to Aloysius and Agatha Zambrowicz. The tenth of twelve children, Kathy was a twin to her sister Colleen. She graduated in 1963 from St. Joseph Academy. Following one year of study at St. Norbert College, Kathy spent time at Robinsonville contemplating sisterhood. However, she left after one year when she realized that God had a different plan for her.
On June 19, 1971, Kathy married Tom Pigeon at St. Boniface Church in De Pere, Wisconsin. They built their forever home in Allouez, lived there for the next 49 years—building a family and becoming grandparents.
Prior to starting a family, Kathy worked at Kellogg Bank for seven years in the proof department. When they became parents in 1972, Kathy resigned from Kellogg to be a stay-at-home mom. Following the birth of their fourth and youngest child, she went back to work—this time at Kmart East—where she spent 18 years staffing the service desk and serving as the face of the store. After leaving Kmart she retired for a brief time before joining Riverside Psychiatric Clinic and working in their billing department for five years. But her greatest joy was being a grandma. Kathy’s grandkids meant the world to her and she would do anything for them. Whether it was cheering them on as they competed in sports, taking them on shopping sprees at the mall, showering them with candy and sweets when she babysat them, or playing countless different games with them (and letting them win), she could never spend enough time with them.
Kathy was an extremely devoted fan of the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin Badgers, and Tiger Woods. Kathy took great joy in spending time with Tom, where they loved watching sports, attending sports memorabilia conventions, and taking road trips to places such as Arizona, Las Vegas, and New York. A favorite pastime of theirs was to go to church on Saturday afternoon, head out to dinner after, and then over to Barnes & Noble to leisurely browse the shelves and buy some more books to read. Kathy was an avid reader and devoured anything written by James Patterson and David Baldacci. Kathy also enjoyed card games (which her grandkids can attest to), and for many years, played in a card group with several of her good friends from Associated Bank.
Kathy was full of life and loved to be on the go. If she wasn’t at home, she was probably helping someone out somewhere, popping in at her kids’ houses for an impromptu visit, taking Door County trips with her daughters and sisters/sisters-in-law, or hanging out with family. She took great pride in being an excellent host. If you ever found yourself at her house for a party or dinner, you knew you wouldn’t be going home hungry!
Kathy loved living on the wild side occasionally, and that meant going to the casinos! With her gambling partner-in-crime, Colleen, they would hit up the casinos in town and even headed to Las Vegas a couple of times (Sin City didn’t know what hit it!). They may not have ever won the big jackpot, but they definitely had a great time trying.
While she had many great qualities, her greatest attributes were her smile, laugh, and big heart. Kathy had the most beautiful, warm smile. You couldn’t help but think you found a friend when she smiled at you. It was easy to find Kathy in a crowded room—all you had to do was follow the laugh to find her. It was contagious and soon everyone around her found themselves howling too! Kathy always found such joy in life and never looked down on anyone. She hated seeing anyone suffer and would do anything for anyone. She was always willing to help out where she could and wanted to make things better for everyone she loved.
Kathy was a member of St. Willebrord Catholic Church since 2002 and St. Matthew Catholic Church before that. Her faith was extremely important to her, and she was quite active in church where she had numerous friends. She enjoyed contributing to the St. Willebrord community by serving as a Eucharistic minister and money counter, and by assisting in decorating the church for Christmas and many other holidays.
Kathy is survived by her husband of 49 years, Tom; her children, Scott (Christina) Pigeon, Barry (Kathy) Pigeon, Christine (Eric) Carter, and Jennifer (Brian) Hansen; her grandchildren, Jakob, Cole, Jonah, Tyler, Kayla, Emma, Sarah, Clare, Michael, and Christian; four brothers, Larry (Sharon) Zambrowicz, Loy (Katheleijne) Zambrowicz, Jack Zambrowicz, and Jerry Paul (Rosemary) Zambrowicz; four sisters, Ann (Mark) Lampereur, Patty (Patrick) Curran, Colleen Gerbers (her special twin), and Betty (Denny) Aerts; three sisters-in-law, Mary Zambrowicz, Sister Rosaire Pigeon, and Carol Boers; two brothers-in-law, Jerry Pigeon and David Pigeon; numerous nieces and nephews; and a multitude of friends.
Kathy was preceded in death by her parents, Aloysius and Agatha Zambrowicz; her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Catherine and Norman Pigeon; two sisters, Sister Helen Zambrowicz and Mary Sue Massey; a brother, Richard Zambrowicz; a brother-in-law, William Massey; and a grandson, Matthew Thomas Pigeon.
Friends may call at St. Willebrord Catholic Church. 209 S. Adams Street. On Thursday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at the church with the Rev. Andrew Cribben O. Praem officiating. Private burial will be in Allouez Catholic Cemetery. On-line condolences may be given by going to www.prokowall.com. The funeral services will be live streamed on St. Willibrord Catholic Church’s Facebook page for those who do not wish to attend due to concern over Covid 19. Simply go to the page and look under “live videos”.
The family would like to thank everyone involved in Kathy’s care. Specifically, they are very appreciative of the support provided by Dr. Amy James and Unity Hospice, and in-home care givers Melinda, Anna, Natasha, Christina, Margaret, Kathy, Emma, Sara, Amber, Chloe, Judy, and Laura. The family is also grateful for the support from Fr. Andy Cribben, O. Praem and numerous friends from St. Willebrord Catholic Church, as well as co-workers and friends at the Green Bay Packers.