North Cliff Neighborhood Association

North Cliff Mourns Passing of Founding Member, Kathryn Gorman

Jul 01, 2005

(by Pat McCombs, Co-founder and past president
North Cliff Neighborhood Association)

Kathryn Gorman, a founding member of North Cliff Neighborhood Association and North Cliff Development Corporation, died Tuesday night. She was 90 years old. She lived at 2850 Aster at the corner of Ravinia.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. in Ennis, about an hour's drive from here, at Keever Funeral Home. Her "obit" is in the DMN today. Her viewing is tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.

Around 3 p.m. Saturday, her family will be back at her house. We ask that neighbors bring small dishes of food to 2850 Aster. If no one is home, go next door to 2846 Aster and leave food there. If the family is home and you can stay a while, please do. If not, no worries.

The neighborhood association sent flowers to the funeral home.

Kathryn and her husband Elliott raised two children at 2850 Aster. She and Elliott were founding members of the neighborhood association, which was established 18 years ago. Elliott died a few years after the association was formed. Kathryn became involved in the association and represented us for many years at the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, served as vice president of the association, and stood her ground for a clean, safe and secure neighborhood at her corner and all our streets.

This petite woman held firm when Tommy the mechanic, who owned the corner property at Clarendon and Ravinia, polluted the air and ground, and littered and trashed his property with junk motor vehicles, used oil and old car parts. He even turned that corner into a used car lot. Kathryn worked diligently with the city and its code compliance officers (that was when we had a committed code compliance department) to bring the mechanic into compliance.

After many years, Tommy the mechanic sold the property and moved to Midolothian where he continues to pollute. Kathryn said she was happy with the new mechanic who bought the property.

Kathryn was an inspiration to me and others of the neighborhood association. She never "gave up" on our neighborhood. For several years, her children encouraged her to move from her home; they told her the neighborhood was no longer a safe place to live. She knew otherwise. Kathryn, in true Kathryn fashion, held her ground. She said she wanted to stay in her home and her neighborhood for as long as she could. Which she did.

I will truly miss her.