Mary Kathryn Dohoney Kuerschen has taken her boundless energy and love to heaven, where she will undoubtedly become the new activities director.
Mrs. Kuerschen was born on July 20, 1967, in Knoxville. She succumbed to glioblastoma on Nov. 6 after a valiant battle that lasted over 18 months.
Mrs. Kuerschen played many roles during her life, including daughter, wife, mother, aunt, and—very recently—Moomsie to Greyson and Palmer.
Her professional career was working as a certified registered nurse anesthetist for 30 years, and she worked at both East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and Gastrointestinal Associates. She also was an accomplished baker, bargain-hunter, gift-giver, and organizer of all things “household.” Her children recall the homemade lunches and home-cooked meals she prepared while working full time.
Mrs. Kuerschen and her husband, Ted, started dating in high school 13 years before marrying in 1994. Their journey has never seen a dull moment. While they traveled for pleasure, they also traveled thousands of miles for sporting events, from their kids’ childhood—including at Knoxville Catholic High School—through college…seldom missing a game. In her son Connor’s words, she was supermom.
Mrs. Kuerschen faced everything life threw at her—from alopecia to brain cancer—with joy, grace, and grit. She lived with a true servant’s heart, constantly thinking of others before herself. She had a smile that lit a room and a way of making everyone she came across feel seen, valued, and cared for, not through grand gestures but through a lifetime of small, selfless ones. Even in her hardest days, she found reasons to smile and ways to make others feel loved.
Mrs. Kuerschen was preceded in death by her beloved mother, Kese, her father, David, and brother, Mike. She leaves a host of family, friends, and co-workers to cherish her memory, including her husband; her children, Cassie, Connor, Chase and wife Tehya, and Cameron and wife Gracie; her grandchildren, Greyson and Palmer; her sister, Paula and friend Nan; her brother, Bob and wife Mary Ann; her niece, Paige and husband Stephen and their children Watts, Lucy, and Jake; and her sister-in-law, Camby and husband Randy.
Mr. Kuerschen and his family extend a heartfelt thanks to grandmother Tommie Smith, Rocky, Mary, Tom, Beverly, their cousins, and friends whose prayers, support, meals, and visits made this time less difficult
A funeral service for Mrs. Kuerschen was held on Nov. 8. The burial service was at New Gray Cemetery in Knoxville. Pallbearers included her children, Cameron, Chase, Connor, and Cassie, her sister, Paula, and her niece, Paige; and an honorary pallbearer was her brother, Bob.
Donations in Mrs. Kuerschen’s memory may be made to Holston Home for Children, holstonhome.org; Restoration House, therestorationhouse.net; or the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, naaf.org.