The Life of Katheryn Whysong
Katheryn Meriam “Katie” Whysong
Katie Whysong was a bright, creative, and beautiful young woman. She was so loved and left a huge void in many hearts when she left. We could never have imagined a world without her light, and the world is a darker place.
Katie was typically quiet and shy in groups and around strangers but when you were blessed to gain her trust, you learned that she was very quick-witted and clever. She had a contagious laugh that filled the room - and your heart.
Katie had a beautiful voice and loved singing. She was a member of honors choir and Vulpes Cantantes at Fox Chapel Area School District. She loved the musicals too, but preferred a supporting role of course, working stage crew and set design.
Katie was an amazing artist, taking any random piece of paper and turning it into something beautiful. She won awards and praise from others who admired her powerful work. She also loved craft projects, constantly finding something new to create.
Katie loved animals and they loved her. Our blind cat, Oscar, especially adored Katie. He would routinely make laps around the house each evening, meowing until he finally found her and a spot on her lap.
Above all, Katie loved her friends and family. Any time spent with her brother and sisters was a treasure and they loved being with her; playing games, being silly, shopping and just hanging out. Family dinners, vacations, and binge-watching reality shows...she glowed. She belonged.
Katie’s circle of friends was everything to her - a safe place for her to be herself. She was a good friend who was extremely supportive, often carrying the problems and concerns of those whom she cared about most. Her friends were often a lifeline for her, and she, them. They were each very special, loved, and important. She was passionate about helping others who struggled as she did, offering support and encouragement to friends and strangers alike.
On March 10, 2021, Katie lost the battle with depression she’d been quietly fighting for years. We were blessed to love her with all our hearts and blessed to have her love us back. Losing her has caused more pain than we could have ever imagined, but finally, she is at peace
If Katie has ever made you laugh or smile or feel good about yourself, please feel free to share it here and please visit her at the beautiful Penn Forest Natural Burial Park. She is still with us all in spirit and in energy. We’re certain that she would love to hear from you.
Filter Katheryn Whysong's Timeline by the following Memory Categories
2021.06.02
For your Katie
I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't help but notice your precious Katie, most especially since I have suffered from depression for so much of my life and can relate to her need to end the pain. Please accept my very deepest condolences. She is truly a beauty with a precious smile. There but for the grace of "god," go I.
2022.01.11
Camp Ren
I remember when I first met you at camp, you were sitting on the steps drawing in your sketchbook. I remember thinking “hey, I want to be her friend.” You were the kindest person I have ever met, I always loved walking around camp talking to you and when we’d draw under the Gazebo. I've been meaning to say something here for months but I just got the confidence to say something today. I miss you everyday and I hope you know I will always love you, Katie. I hope that one day in the distant future we can meet again under that Gazebo and draw together once again. Your friend, Linnea
2022.01.13
Forever My Kit Kat
For once in my life I feel as though I am at a loss for words. I remember the day your dad brought you home from the hospital and we drove down to meet you. Holding you in my arms, excited to see what the future held for you. I’ll always remember watching you grow over the years and becoming the confident, beautiful, amazing daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, and friend you turned into. Sporadically throughout this year I kept a running note on my phone of things that at some point I wish I could share with you. Something funny that would remind me of you or a holiday that just didn’t seem the same without you. It’s crazy how someones life can make such a huge impact and leave a space that no one can fill when they’re gone. We talk about you everyday Kate. Whether it’s sharing a story with the kids, missing you, or reminiscing on past memories. Sometimes I’ll be in the kitchen cooking and remember making dinner after school with you or I’ll be listening to the radio and a song reminds me of you. When I put the kids to bed I’ve started to sing “rainbow” because it makes me feel closer to you. Every time Cole climbs into bed with me I remember the little girl who would quietly come down the stairs, scared at night to sleep alone and crawl in bed beside me. The only kid I knew who would spend an hour in the bath and somehow end up with more water on the floor than in the tub. My back to school model who would shop for hours and let me dress/do her hair for school without a complaint. All of these memories Ill get to keep forever. Family game nights just aren’t the same without your witty humor and contagious laugh. I want you to know your story has changed so many lives and helped so many people, I know your smiling down on us all. I can’t wait for the day that we meet again. Until then you will forever live in our memories. I miss you Kit Kat♥️
-Chelsea J.
2022.01.28
katie
wow, it has been a while without katie. i sometimes get random memories of her that pop into my mind and if smile. we met back in middle school in musical theater set design, we met over being into the same music and we instantly connected. we would email eachother till one day it stopped and i thought maybe she just would get back to me, but then a couple weeks later i got the news and it broke me. all of her friends miss her with all our hearts. she was the most sweetest girl when you got to know her, i miss seeing her after school and painting stuff for the mary poppins musical, she was absolutely amazing at it. we all miss you katie <3
- caitlin
2022.02.20
Fun visit
Spent a day in the city with you! Sweet girl was so kind to Maddie and Nate and helped take care of them ❤️
2022.02.20
Remembering
I was a good friend of Katie's in Freshman year. Looking back on our time, I know o must have disagreed with her every now and then, but I cannot remember any of it. It's all faded away. Today I can only remember all of the gatherings she organized, the way she treated her friends and her pets. She brought joy backstage in the musical and had one of the longest fuses I can think of. I aspire to be as kind and sociable as she was. Her death was a complete shock to me, and I miss her deeply.
2022.02.20
I found my old sketchbook!!
I found a sketchbook I would doodle in with Katie at camp recently, it brought back so many happy memories. The cover of it was from when we were paining blocks of wood and I had the bright idea of painting my sketchbook. I remember Katie being a little confused of my thought process but she rolled with it anyway. I cannot remember the little details of the story but I think this was the moment Katie and I became friends :). I also found a few pages of drawings I did of one of her characters she made, one was me attempting to draw the character in her art style and the other was in mine. We also commemorated "Take Your House Plant For a Walk Day." We did this in the art room from what I remember. The next page I cannot remember for the life of me but it makes me laugh when I look at it. I dunno how appropriate cussing is for this but I guess at some point we thought that the phrase "F*ckin' Chickens" was the funniest thing ever. Maybe it was referring to a Vine? Who knows!! Katie drew a little rooster on the page while I kinda went insane drawing or something lol. I also found some drawings in a bigger sketchbook that was a collaboration between her and some of the people in my camp squad we called it the "Page of Trash" haha. I remember Katie was a little shy around everyone but I like to think she began to open up too new people at camp from there :). She drew some fruits with smiley faces right by drawings of Spongebob made by my friend Andrew and a creature from the show Gravity Falls (forget who drew that one lol). The last thing i thought I'd share was all the people who signed my camp shirt on the last day of camp. I wore the camp shirt from the wrong year but it brings back so many good memories. Katie's name was beginning to fade on the shirt and to combat that i rewrote her name in bright pink so that it stands out! Her name is surrounded by so many other people who cared about her so much, I like to think it commemorated our friendship. She signed so many shirts that day and it made me happy because it showed that she had made so many new friends!! These little things act as time capsules for so many priceless memories we made, and I thought that it's time I share them <3
With Love,
Linnea
2022.02.20
Happy (early) Birthday Katie
I didnt know Katie well but I always wanted to get to know her. She was close with some of my best friends and I always heard about and saw how amazing she was. She was always spreading kindness and light everywhere she went. Katie was in my English class last year and every day I would walk out of class and kick myself because I didnt go up and say hi or try to get to know her a little better. She was always trying to help others. She has been an inspiration to me to always be kind, and most of all to start conversations and intorduce myself to new people. I held myself back and never got the chance to get to know Katie, but her memory has helped me to put myself out there a little more everyday. Happy Birthday Katie, we all miss you.
2022.02.21
A Precious Relationship
Every relationship I hold with another person is unique. There are no two people on this planet that I interact with in quite the same way. Some are very similar, some are very different, but all are unique in their own way. The way that I interact with my father is different from my mother, which is different from my sister Ava, which is different from my other sister Emma, which is different from my best friend Garrett, etc. This applies to Katie, and my relationship with Katie died with her. I will never, ever interact with someone the same way I interacted with Katie; it just isn't possible. Maybe, if I'm incredibly lucky, I will one day meet someone who I happen to interact with very similarly, but it still won't be exactly the same. It can't be. And that hurts. That hurts more than most of what I lost with her, and that is saying a lot. The hole that has existed in my heart since 10 March 2021 will never be filled, at least not completely. In the time since then, with the help of my family and friends, I've come to accept that, however reluctantly.
I think the most glaring part of my relationship with Katie, a part that is now forever lost with the rest of it, is how easily I could make her laugh. I will never be able to make another person laugh as easily as I could Katie. Even if she was angry at me, all I'd have to do is probe "You mad?" a few times, and I'd immediately see her trying to suppress a smile. That kind of thing doesn't work with anyone else in my life. I will never get to do that again. I'll never again get to show her a movie I like. I'll never again get to share her enthusiasm for Marvel, an enthusiasm I introduced to her. I'll never again get to watch her fawn over literally any small animal--I think she would love the grass-eating cat that frequents the grounds she's buried under. I'll never again get to sneak up behind her and grab her by the shoulders, saying "What're you doing?!" and making her jump.
The one small consolation I can find in all of this is the fact that I can keep her alive in my memories. It's a microscopically small point of comfort, practically insignificant in the grand scheme of all my other surviving relationships, but it's all I have; and for that, it means the world to me.
I love you, Katie, and I'll never stop thinking about you.
2022.02.21
Missing you Katie
Katie,
We all miss you so dearly. Coleston asks about you often and talks to you daily through prayers. There are so many memories, but one that stands out is when we came for a few days to stay over during the winter. During this winter snowy day, you wanted to go to your neighbors, so Jared begun to make an attempt up your giant hill. While we ventured up this hill, I always panic when the car begins to slide, so I yelled I needed to get out! I looked at you beside me in the backseat just smiling and said I need to go. I opened the door and of course Jared said get back in. But it was just a fun snowy day that we will never forget. Happy Heavenly Birthday, we love and miss you so much ❤️.
2022.02.21
02.21.2022
I remember meeting you for the first time in what, third grade? At the time it felt like we spent so much time together but now looking back it wasn't nearly enough time to get to know you and understand what you were going through. I vividly remember, a week before you passed away, that you texted me. We hadn't talked for quite some time but you reached out voluntarily after hearing about my mental struggles with advice and a shoulder to lean on. I never realized how much I appreciated that until after you passed away. I miss you every day Katie, and I wish I had done the same. I love you, rest easy Katie <3
2022.02.25
Forever in my heart
I have so many happy memories of you. I remember the day you were born. The first time I held you in my arms. Watching you grow into a quiet, funny and graceful girl over those past 15 years was such an honor. Those times we spent sitting at the kitchen table in your house coloring , sketching and drawing , oh how you loved to color! The numerous times we sat in my car waiting for the school bus to arrive while you sang along to songs on the radio. The times you would laugh at me for singing along incorrectly to the songs on the radio ( I’ll never be able to listen to Watermelon Sugar without hearing your laughter) . Our trips to the mall. Shopping at Justice, Claire’s and as you got older , Old Navy. The sleepovers at my house. Riding your bike at North Park . You had no fear, peddling ahead while I tried to keep up from behind . Our trips to Animal Friends. You loved looking at all the cats and rabbits. All the beach trips. Road trips into Johnstown for the weekend . Those happy memories and so many more will stay with me forever. Happy sweet 16 Katie! I love you and miss you every day! You will forever be in my heart!
Aunt Kim
2022.02.26
Our Little Angel
Happy Birthday, sweet Katie,
We miss you so much. I still have a vision of you in heaven, happily singing your heart out! You are our youngest grandchild, our little angel. I remember your “birth” day, watching you grow, your quiet, gentle spirit, with so many memories… sleepover visits at our house and your house, playing favorite games, the crazy “let’s pretend I’m a cat,” the camping trip when you learned to ride your bike, shopping, vacations at the beach, summer fun in the pool, so many great birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings, Bible School, taking your American Girl doll to church (wearing matching outfits), reading books at bedtime, praying your bedtime prayers.
Great Grandma Meriam (whom you were named after) said one of her favorite memories of you is from Christmas Eve with all of the “grands.”
My last memory is your 15th birthday dinner here in the dining room, talking, laughing, playing games until bedtime. It was the best day!
God bless you, Katie, you are a blessing, even now as your Dad, Alisa, Adam, Emma and Ava continue your passion to help others. You are so loved! 💕💕
2022.02.26
Happy Heavenly Birthday
Our sweet Katie not a day goes by that I don’t think about you and wish you were here. I have so many cherished memories of you I don’t know where to begin. One summer comes to mind, you spent helping me decorate for Bible school. You had so many ideas and were so eager to help. We then ended the week with a luau in the backyard. I remember your laughter and giggles as we made Uncle Craig and Jared wear coconuts and a lei. Later that summer we spent long days at the beach chasing the waves. I was exhausted but you were relentless and kept saying again as your laughter echoed. Although you are no longer with us and missing you never gets easy, I promise to keep your memory alive. Happy heavenly birthday Katie. Someday we will be together again until then I’m hugging you with all my heart.
Love, Aunt Missy and Uncle Craig.
2022.02.27
You'll be missed forever
When I first met Katie 3 years ago, she was really nice. I asked her if we can be friends, and she approached me. That gave me so much memories and I felt like I had a new friend, and I'm happy she approached me because when I asked other people to be my friend, no one would approach me. When I heard about her death, I was really sad, and shocked that she was gone. We weren't that close, but I still miss this beautiful angel and she's still my friend no matter what! Katie, I hope you rest peacefully and safely in a beautiful place with God and his angels.
2022.03.12
Ka-Tie
We had art, chorus, and gym together in grade 8. And I usually sat by myself in art because I didn't really know anyone in the class. But one day I looked up at her looking at me and she smiled and I went to sit with her. I sat with her in art for the rest of the days we had that class. We had so many fun times in art class, we would gossip with the other two kids that sat at our table, and we had a lot of fun with the art teacher. I gave her the nickname Ka-Tie because of the way Katie is spelled, and she gave me the name Mars-eye. I even invited her to my birthday party that summer. We went swimming, me, her, my sister and my sister's friend. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of silly pictures and videos. I wish I could go back to those fun times and really savor them. I love her and I miss her so much <3
2022.12.06
Mouse-Face
I miss you every day. I don't think I've fully processed (even more than eighteen months later) that I'll never see you again.
I remember when I first heard that you were moving to the district. We were in third grade, and Sydney Schutzman told me that another Katie was entering our grade. It was exciting; I'd never had another Katie before. You became friends with Krebs really quickly, but we didn't start to bond until fourth grade.
The starting point for our friendship (for me at least) was Violet Jaggary. I still can't believe the whole thing was deleted! Absolutely devestating. Krebs and I had planned to write the story during a camping trip, and she asked if she could add you to the document. I'm so glad she did. No one writes penguin births the way you could. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard since.
When we were in fifth grade, we were alone in the hallway one day. This is one of the big moments I remember from our relationship. We were just laughing over something stupid, and I said something along the lines of, "We've become really good friends in the last few weeks." This is probably the most mundane confession of friendship ever, but you agreed with me! We were officially friends after that day.
Middle school started, bringing exciting revelations. You were the very first person I ever came out to. I told you at lunch time, and we laughed and laughed about it. You were super supportive. Thank you for making my first coming out a good one; I've been able to love myself a lot more because of it. I remember not wanting that lunch period to end because I just wanted to keep talking to you forever.
I'm sorry I started drifting apart after that. Thank you for still inviting me to your birthday parties and keeping me connected to the group. Krebs is still one of my best friends because of you.
I know I said it at the start of whatever this is, but I miss you so much. Not a day goes by where I don't think of you. I would trade anything in the world to see you again. But even though you're gone, you've given me the courage to do things I never would have done before. I came out to my parents because of you! Thank you for helping me discover a part of who I am. I want to be a psychologist now too, so that I can help people who are struggling. You've made so many people's lives better just by existing. I'll never stop being grateful for having the chance to know you.
I've been rambling. I've had what I've wanted to say planned out for a while now. So I'll just end with this: I love you. I'll always love you, and I'll always do my best to honor your memory and to help people like you did.
Thank you for everything, Katie. I love and miss you more than words can say.
Love, Haas
2023.02.27
Memories
Happy birthday Katie! The big 1 7! I miss you more and more everyday. I remember when we used to see each other almost every weekend in Gettysburg. We used to go roller skating all the time! The one song that we used to skate to a lot was Dynamite by Taio Cruz. That was one of our favorites. Or when we played Mrs. Chin lol. I also remember coming to see you as a kid and go swimming in the pool. That was always fun! And that one time that we went trick or treating and it poored on us haha! Good times..I love you always and forever Kate!
- Jaden
2023.06.30
Missing What We Could've Had
You tried to do my makeup and went a little overkill on the blush, so we just leaned into it and called it "secretary makeup." You added overlined lips and a fake mole and everything. We talked to each other through the grate in the floor of our bedroom into the ceiling of the kitchen, and we almost tripped over each other running up and down those steep servants' steps. We picked ticks out of the neck of that pretty calico cat, and however irritated she got, she always came back to you because she knew that she could trust you, that you were helping her. I guess the both of us knew how kind you were and couldn't help ourselves for wanting to be around you, wanting to be your friend.
I wish we had gone to the museum that day. I was looking forward to it for weeks, looking forward to spending time with you. I wish that we had laughed and talked and lived together. Maybe then we would have realized how similar we really were, and maybe that would have given you something. Hope? Solace? I don't know. But if you could have seen yourself the way I saw you, maybe this world would be a little bit fuller today. I just wish you would've stayed a little longer.