In Loving Memory of Kathi Hamlon (1946-2021)
The Patients Rights Council announces the passing of Kathi Hamlon, Public Policy Analyst and member of the Board of Directors. Kathi passed away from the effects of COVID-19 and a stroke on August 29. Her husband and daughter were at her side.
Kathleen Solari was born in San Francisco, California on February 19, 1946. She was raised in the city and graduated from Lone Mountain College for Women, majoring in history and art. She became a teacher at Presentation High School in San Francisco, where she met another first-year teacher, John Hamlon. The two were married at Notre Dame University on November 13, 1971.
Kathi joined what was then called the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force at its founding in 1987. From the beginning, she was an essential element of the PRC’s infrastructure, not only serving indefatigably as public policy analyst, but also writing and editing an astounding 112 editions of the PRC’s quarterly newsletter, The Update. Her dedication to the cause of preventing the spread of assisted suicide and euthanasia was absolute. Her contributions to the work of the Council cannot be quantified.
“My heart is broken,” Rita Marker, executive director of the Patients Rights Council, said as she announced the passing of her beloved friend and colleague. “Kathi and I have been best friends for more than 40 years She was a tireless champion of the medically vulnerable and a selfless servant in opposing the culture of death. Nothing that the PRC has accomplished could have been done without her.”
Her husband John Hamlon, also a PRC Board member, recalled that Kathi’s maiden name Solari—appropriately–means “of the sun.” He said, “Kathi was the most loving wife and mother, and especially grandmother, that can be imagined.” Despite experiencing chronic pain from fibromyalgia for years, Kathi often worked seven days a week on behalf of the PRC. “Kathi was a perfectionist,” John added. “Nothing could keep her from caring for her family or following her calling.”
Kathi is survived by husband John, their three children John Hamlon, Rebecca Taylor, and Mark Hamlon, and seven grandchildren.
Wesley J. Smith
