Kathleen Ann Ludlum

12 Feb.1938 – 18 Aug. 2025

Mama Lud.

Born in San Jose. SJHS Class of ‘56. I recall asking about a little ceramic Bulldog in the house that was the SJHS mascot; fun irony that my kids will go to Lincoln, the arch-rival back in the day.

And she didn’t go far; her father, our grandpa, was an educator in SJUSD, and mom ended up at Buchser HS as an attendance clerk. There she met a young teacher named Howie Ludlum just arrived from Ohio. They got hitched pretty soon after.

And then Jeff came; and Scott a few years later. And we grew up forever supported by Kathy Lud.

She was fierce in the support and guiding us in the manner she thought best. She was insistent on our efforts and loud and every game we ever played as young athletes. She was our champion.

And she loved family and Yosemite and Bailey’s Irish Cream and waterfowl and Jimmy Buffett. And people. She was a people person.

She was a stay-at-home mom and community volunteer until Scott was in high school, then she got a job as an admin at SCU. She loved that community too. And she was deep in it until her stroke in 1996. 58 years old.

That changed things, but our folks were not about to be stopped completely. They took countless drives; they traveled some; even to Howie’s 50th at Hiram, all the way to Ohio. Howie was the forever champion helping his disabled partner in every aspect of her life.

Kathy Lud spent a third of her life disabled, a chatty people person prior, post-stroke unable to speak or engage. Yet somehow for all that, she thrived; she demanded participation.

And so it went. Until it didn’t. She left us today after succumbing to complications after a fall in April and general, accumulated factors of old age.

Mom was 87.

Give it up for a life well lived.

Godspeed, Kathy Lud.