Kathy Meredythe (Ploskunak) Gonzalez of Vowinkel and Pittsburgh died quietly at her home in Pittsburgh on September 2 ^nd after a long battle with breast and ovarian cancer.  She was the daughter of Stephan and Judith Ploskunak (deceased) of Iselin, PA and sister of Steve (Butch) (deceased) Ploskunak and Georgia Brosko.

She is survived by her daughters, Jennifer (Paul) McComb and Raquel (Matthew) Kramer, and her grandsons, Alex and Peter Kramer and Henry and Samuel McComb, as well as a niece and multiple nephews.

Kathy returned to school after starting her family to earn a Bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Clinical Dietetics and then a Master's degree in Education from Penn State.  She worked as a clinical dietician for many years at St. Margaret's Hospital and Suburban General Hospital.  She spent the last 17 years of her career as a Vice President at Metz and Associates driving the highways and back roads of Pennsylvania visiting school, hospital, and nursing home accounts.

She knew the location of every Sheetz in the state and could rattle off the best way to get anywhere in Pennsylvania without consulting a map.  She enjoyed all sorts of craft work especially knitting, needlepoint, and quilting.  After she retired from Metz, she worked at a quilt shop in Brookville, PA – mostly for the advice from her co-workers and for the shop discount.  All of us who loved her have a variety of quilts, sweaters, pillowcases, afghans, and Christmas ornaments that she specifically made for us.

Kathy was an avid traveler and visited six of the seven continents in her lifetime.  She floated down the Amazon to see the rainforest, explored the Canadian tundra to see polar bears, went bird watching in Costa Rica and Belize, and journeyed to India to hear the Dalai Lama teach.  She loved learning about the Civil War, and her last adventure was a boat trip down the Mississippi River to explore the southern battlegrounds she had not yet seen.  She had many places she still wanted to visit with her children and grandsons.  Kathy was planning to take them to Alaska this August for an adventurous week exploring, fishing and hiking.  She lost her beloved Labrador Retriever, Barney, several months before her own death, and we know she is now peacefully walking the trails with him.

Jennifer and Raquel want to thank Dr. Jane Raymond and the oncology team at Allegheny General Hospital for their 14+ years of excellent care and advice as well as the St. Barnabas Hospice team (particularly Sarah, Lisa, Beth Ann, and Karen) for their guidance and support.

There will be a visitation for family and friends on Saturday, September 5,  from 2 to 6pm at the Eloise B. Kyper Funeral Home, Inc., 2702 Mt. Royal Blvd; Glenshaw, PA 15116.  In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the Friends of Gettysburg Foundation (https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/).

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