Katherine Mary Weiler
February 10, 1991 — November 19, 2019
Katherine Mary Weiler (or Mary Katherine) quietly left this earth, at 4:09 AM, on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, surrounded by her parents, sister and her Aunt Julie, with Paddie, our beagle at her feet. She passed in peace and love at Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, Iowa.
Katie was born February 10,1991, at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. Katie (MK) was the youngest of two daughters born to Sue Ellen (Snyder) and David John Weiler. She attended St. Joseph School in Marion before entering Xavier High School, Class of ’09. At Xavier, Katie was active in show choir, the yearbook, the school paper, theatre and NHS. A dancer of tap, ballet, Pointe and jazz, she performed and competed over 15 years in troupe at Donna’s Dance Place.
As a member of Drake’s class of 2013, Katie was very active in AKPsi fraternity and co-founded The Drake Dance Marathon supporting University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. Her international studies included a semester in Ireland at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, and time in Ecuador working in the Galapagos. Katie was on the dean’s list receiving her BS in Business Administration.
Remaining in Des Moines following graduation, Katie worked for The Foundation before she moved her life to the San Diego area. Her work there was focused on supporting companies that build and launch online programs. Katie supported several successful launches and was notably skilled at copywriting, strategic planning, budgeting, and creative monetization.
Her life in California was...in a word...Fun! No matter whom she was with, or where she was, you could count on her to be one of the first to get the room or people into a smile or a fun action. Katie led with her heart... always with love and play for anything she did. Never a bad word spoken about her, she was loved and welcomed everywhere she went. You also always knew where you stood with her; she didn’t play games. And she told it how it was. It was very refreshing, and annoying! Katie was independent and focused and never lost her love of learning. Returning to Iowa she took piano lessons, yoga classes, learned to sew, quilt and crochet, cook new foods, frequented the theatre, listened to music (occasionally breaking into a dance) and always had a puzzle to work on.
While attending Burning Man Festival in 2015, Katie suffered several seizures and a subsequent stroke and brain bleed, leaving her with seizures and blood on her brain. An MRI on March 14, 2017, showed the Glioblastoma Multiform. She returned home to Iowa to seek treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It was at this time she began going by Mary Katherine (MK). Two surgeries, chemo and radiation and living clean gave us more time with her and the opportunity to travel and say goodbyes. Katie spent 40 days at Mercy Hospice House with an incredible and caring staff we cannot thank enough.
It was Katie’s wish to continue to help others. Through tissue donation she gave sight to two people and her body to University of Iowa Medical School for research and training. Being unconventional, Katie didn’t want a funeral; rather a Celebration of Life is being planned in Cedar Rapids and in California February 2020. (Details are to be posted.)
The ripples of love and joy Katie left in her wake are long felt and incredibly impactful. She leaves behind her parents; older sister Amy Louise Weiler; many aunts and uncles; dozens of cousins; and a multitude of friends.
She was preceded in death by grandparents, Edward C. Weiler, Mary (Arnold) Weiler, John William Snyder and Agnes (McGraw) Snyder; and first cousins, Travis Weiler and Korrianne Lundstrom.
We thank everyone who helped her and us through this period, including the doctors and staff at the Mayo Clinic and at the Hall Perrine Cancer Center, especially Dr. Burns, Dr. LaChance, Dr. Wilber, and Dr. Lee; the entire staff at the Hospice House of Mercy; and her many friends and family across the country who helped her and continue to help us.
Rest-In-Peace Punky Pie, for nothing can compare to the love we shared with you and the journeys you took us on.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Katie’s memory may be sent to either (please use any company gift matching if available):
-Camp Wapsi at crmetroymca.org/donate in Memorial of Katherine Weiler. (or Cedar Rapids Area YMCA, Department of Development, 207 7th Avenue, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.)
-Mayo Clinic Mayoclinic.org/development in Memorial of Katherine Weiler for Glioblastoma Research. (or Mayo Clinic, Dept of Development, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905)
Katie was born February 10,1991, at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. Katie (MK) was the youngest of two daughters born to Sue Ellen (Snyder) and David John Weiler. She attended St. Joseph School in Marion before entering Xavier High School, Class of ’09. At Xavier, Katie was active in show choir, the yearbook, the school paper, theatre and NHS. A dancer of tap, ballet, Pointe and jazz, she performed and competed over 15 years in troupe at Donna’s Dance Place.
As a member of Drake’s class of 2013, Katie was very active in AKPsi fraternity and co-founded The Drake Dance Marathon supporting University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. Her international studies included a semester in Ireland at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland, and time in Ecuador working in the Galapagos. Katie was on the dean’s list receiving her BS in Business Administration.
Remaining in Des Moines following graduation, Katie worked for The Foundation before she moved her life to the San Diego area. Her work there was focused on supporting companies that build and launch online programs. Katie supported several successful launches and was notably skilled at copywriting, strategic planning, budgeting, and creative monetization.
Her life in California was...in a word...Fun! No matter whom she was with, or where she was, you could count on her to be one of the first to get the room or people into a smile or a fun action. Katie led with her heart... always with love and play for anything she did. Never a bad word spoken about her, she was loved and welcomed everywhere she went. You also always knew where you stood with her; she didn’t play games. And she told it how it was. It was very refreshing, and annoying! Katie was independent and focused and never lost her love of learning. Returning to Iowa she took piano lessons, yoga classes, learned to sew, quilt and crochet, cook new foods, frequented the theatre, listened to music (occasionally breaking into a dance) and always had a puzzle to work on.
While attending Burning Man Festival in 2015, Katie suffered several seizures and a subsequent stroke and brain bleed, leaving her with seizures and blood on her brain. An MRI on March 14, 2017, showed the Glioblastoma Multiform. She returned home to Iowa to seek treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It was at this time she began going by Mary Katherine (MK). Two surgeries, chemo and radiation and living clean gave us more time with her and the opportunity to travel and say goodbyes. Katie spent 40 days at Mercy Hospice House with an incredible and caring staff we cannot thank enough.
It was Katie’s wish to continue to help others. Through tissue donation she gave sight to two people and her body to University of Iowa Medical School for research and training. Being unconventional, Katie didn’t want a funeral; rather a Celebration of Life is being planned in Cedar Rapids and in California February 2020. (Details are to be posted.)
The ripples of love and joy Katie left in her wake are long felt and incredibly impactful. She leaves behind her parents; older sister Amy Louise Weiler; many aunts and uncles; dozens of cousins; and a multitude of friends.
She was preceded in death by grandparents, Edward C. Weiler, Mary (Arnold) Weiler, John William Snyder and Agnes (McGraw) Snyder; and first cousins, Travis Weiler and Korrianne Lundstrom.
We thank everyone who helped her and us through this period, including the doctors and staff at the Mayo Clinic and at the Hall Perrine Cancer Center, especially Dr. Burns, Dr. LaChance, Dr. Wilber, and Dr. Lee; the entire staff at the Hospice House of Mercy; and her many friends and family across the country who helped her and continue to help us.
Rest-In-Peace Punky Pie, for nothing can compare to the love we shared with you and the journeys you took us on.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Katie’s memory may be sent to either (please use any company gift matching if available):
-Camp Wapsi at crmetroymca.org/donate in Memorial of Katherine Weiler. (or Cedar Rapids Area YMCA, Department of Development, 207 7th Avenue, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.)
-Mayo Clinic Mayoclinic.org/development in Memorial of Katherine Weiler for Glioblastoma Research. (or Mayo Clinic, Dept of Development, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905)
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Katherine Mary Weiler, please visit our flower store.