A head-on crash on Bluff Road early last Wednesday evening resulted in the tragic loss of a Waterloo woman who gave everything to those around her, always sought adventure and lived life to the fullest at every opportunity.

Emergency personnel responded shortly before 5:30 p.m. to a two-vehicle crash on Bluff Road between Bottom and Steppig roads in Columbia, one of the vehicles catching fire following the collision.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said a 2005 Buick Rendezvous SUV driven by a 21-year-old male from Millstadt was traveling north on Bluff Road and attempted to pass another northbound vehicle, entering the southbound lane and striking a 2021 Honda Accord driven by a 61-year-old Waterloo woman.

That woman was pronounced deceased at the scene and later identified by Monroe County Coroner Bob Hill as 61-year-old Kathleen Francescon.

The male was transported by Monroe County EMS to a St. Louis area hospital, where he was treated for injuries and later released.

Hill said both vehicles “made an evasive move toward the field on the west side of the road. Unfortunately, both vehicles made impact head-on in the field.”

The MCSD said this crash remains under investigation.

Francescon was wearing a seat belt, Hill said.

Francescon’s visitation and memorial service took place Sunday and Monday, with members of her family as well as some of her friends speaking with the Republic-Times to discuss her career achievements, her love of traveling and her giving and supportive nature.

Kathleen’s husband Anthony Francescon spoke with great love for her, recounting their relationship of 12 years which extended even further back to their time together in grade school.

As Anthony recalled, Kathleen leaned more toward the brainy crowd while he was something of an athletic class clown. He said he joked with her about only sitting next to her in class when a test rolled around.

While they certainly knew each other in school, they weren’t exactly close, and it would ultimately take their 35th grade school reunion for them to reconnect.

Anthony said that was quite by chance, however, as Kathleen was among those classmates who couldn’t be readily contacted thanks to a lack of social media.

By happenstance, she was able to find out about the reunion – though she wasn’t keen to attend.

A fashionably late arrival halfway through the event ultimately led to a new relationship.

“At the last minute, for whatever reason, thank God she shut the TV off, got dressed and made it to the party,” Anthony said. “That’s where I saw her. Beautiful, walked in. It wasn’t an immediate start. I hounded her for a few months before she decided to go out with me.’

With the reunion taking place in late 2013, Anthony recalled their relationship starting properly in December of that year.

They were married in September 2015, and Anthony said he was never happier.

He shared a number of fond memories of Kathleen, particularly recalling how, when they moved to the area from St. Louis just a few years ago, she was determined that their home have a pool, to which he agreed on the condition they also have a bathroom with a urinal.

He noted how much she loved their home, enjoying swimming and gardening as she pleased.

Anthony spoke a great deal about Kathleen’s love of traveling, pointing to a recent trip where they spent a week in Mexico that prompted her to look into another trip scheduled for January.

“Everything was an adventure with her,” Anthony said. “I was a couch potato, and she really lit a fire under me. The time we’ve had together, there’s nothing she didn’t have time for that she wanted to accomplish.”

She was likewise eager as she planned a trip to Yellowstone National Park next year, going so far as to set an alarm in the middle of the night to make sure she could get reservations for a lodge, with applications opening at midnight there.

As it happened, she wound up following some bad information and had to set another alarm to wake up in the night a few days later.

Anthony further emphasized how much she enjoyed traveling over the years and how she planned to continue traveling in retirement – afforded by her great career success working in a number of accounting positions.

He recalled how he would often join her on work trips, such as one to Boston, in the past. While part of the trip would be dedicated to her work, she was always eager to make a full week of a trip, enjoying wherever she found herself.

“There was nothing too difficult for her to try,” Anthony said. “There was no mountain she didn’t want to attempt to climb.”

Anthony spoke highly of Kathleen in a number of other ways as well. Both of them coming into the relationship with kids, he noted how she was always great with his son along with her son and daughter.

On that same note, he said her children were always her life.

Anthony also spoke about what he’s been dealing with in the days since her death, aided by friends and family.

He noted how he’s been regularly making their bed and cleaning the bath after a shower, chores he scarcely did but were something of a compulsion for Kathleen.

“You search 49 years for that perfect someone, and then you find them, and then just senseless tragedy, 100 percent avoidable,” Anthony said.

Kathleen’s daughter, Allie Kennebeck, also spoke about her mother, describing her as her best friend thanks to how similar they were.

She spoke highly of Kathleen as a giving, caring person, always making folks feel like a friend.

Allie attested to Kathleen’s ability as a gift-giver, always giving exactly what folks wanted or needed, and even continuing to give gifts to those on her former husband’s side of the family.

As Allie said, her mother had a strong love language with food, often hosting big family parties and cooking enough food to leave a fridge full of leftovers just to make sure everyone could eat their fill without running out.

“She was always the life of the party,” Allie said. “She was kinda known for being a little bit extravagant with any hosting.”

Allie spoke highly of Kathleen as a professional. She noted how she experienced a great deal of difficulty in her career over the years following a lengthy tenure as director of global payroll for Monsanto – though her latest job as chief financial officer of the Friendship Village senior facility wound up being an excellent fit for her.

With the kind of drive and determination to pursue her master’s degree online in the middle of a full-time job, Kathleen’s work ethic, Allie said, rubbed off on her and her brother, Ben.

“She was incredibly motivated. Incredibly driven,” Allie said. “I know my brother and I wouldn’t be in the positions we are if it weren’t for not only the resources she provided to us, obviously, but also just the leading by example work ethic.”

Allie also had plenty to say about her mother’s penchant for traveling. She noted her love of beaches, trips to Mexico and Las Vegas and a weekend trip to Seattle together to celebrate Allie’s master’s degree.

She further spoke about Kathleen’s trips to many national parks and her plans to hike into and out of the Grand Canyon.

Stressing Kathleen’s determination, Allie also mentioned her past trip to Zion National Park during which she took a hike through waist-high water just six months after getting her hip replaced.

Allie also spoke about her mother’s relationship with Anthony, noting how their marriage is what brought her to the Waterloo area in the first place.

“I’m very much thankful that she met Tony,” Allie said. “I think that that was the happiest of happy-ever-afters that she could have had as far as having someone who loved her so dearly and also getting the opportunity to have such an awesome extended family.”

Allie emphasized the energy and passion Kathleen exhibited, saying, “She was one of those marvels that somehow she had 30 hours in a day, and she just makes it work.”

“She had a way of experiencing life to the fullest and seeing life in color,” Allie said. “She saw every moment, every opportunity she was given, she made the most of it… She saw every color out there, but she also wasn’t afraid of the lows in life, and she took the lows in stride. She didn’t take no for an answer.”

Ben Kennebeck also offered kind words for his mother, describing her as “selfless and determined” and noting her love for Waterloo.

“She could reach any goal or tackle any challenge, even if it was someone else’s problem,” Ben said. “What she wanted most out of life was to please others.”

Kathleen’s mother, Betty Meyer, also offered fond words for her daughter and spoke further on her background.

“She was a sweet child when she grew up,” Meyer said. “She was always very level-headed, always cool… She was just very calm, very cool, but a very go-getter. She was very focused on what she wanted to do.”

Meyer recalled Kathleen selling her own crafts around the neighborhood as a kid, demonstrating a work ethic that would carry strong throughout her life.

She recalled having to encourage Kathleen to slow down for her own sake as she worked two jobs in high school on top of earning straight A’s, doing plays and dancing.

Kathleen pursued a theatre education in college – also working as manager at a Denny’s – and enjoyed a dance scholarship that came to an end following an unfortunate injury.

Not stopping for a moment, Meyer recalled how Kathleen instantly did a 180 into accounting, newly motivated toward a career in finance.

“That’s how she lived her life,” Meyer said. “She was totally motivated… When I got married and had a family, I thought, ‘I’m gonna raise my family to be good-looking, smart and fearless,’ and Kathy said, ‘Mom, you went overboard on the fearless,’ because she was absolutely, totally fearless. She was afraid of nothing.”

Meyer also spoke about how her daughter showed her love through food, describing her as a “Martha Stewart” with perfect dinners every time and many themed parties over the years.

She further spoke on Kathleen’s caring nature, visiting to help her in the garden unprompted or putting together a cabinet for her – later returning to reassemble it after she wasn’t satisfied with a small mistake.

“She was always a very caring person,” Meyer said. “She was just full of activities and wanted to do a lot of things… She was always looking to what other people will need.”

Some of Kathleen’s friends from Friendship Village also shared fond sentiments about her, including the organization’s president and CEO Terry Walsh.

He spoke about how, in the three years that Kathleen began working for the faith-centric senior living facility as CFO, she became a very close member of the family, working intensely to ensure the best for the business, residents and staff.

Walsh credited her as a major reason for the organization’s high ranking on a national level.

He spoke highly of her given her dedication as a mother, praised her as a friend to other leaders at Friendship Village and reiterated the role she played in the company’s family.

“It’s very close and very tight, and it’s not a job you come to in the mornings and leave in the evenings and you don’t have any interaction with anyone on the team other than the business day,” Walsh said. “She was completely immersed in our family of leaders at Friendship Village. From a personal standpoint, knowing her family and her knowing our families, helping all of us to thrive inside and outside of work. We know that she was an exceptionally strong mother to her kids.”

Speaking as a great friend and colleague, Stacey Zerban-Roth recalled collaborating with Kathleen on a number of projects, particularly working together to establish the hospice agency, a project that was especially important to her.

With a similar background – Kathleen moved from St. Louis to Waterloo and Zerban-Roth from St. Louis to Columbia – she commended Kathleen for her dedication to work and community, bringing tremendous energy to everything she did.

She particularly commended Kathleen for her work ethic, always wanting to instill confidence in those she worked with while also being a fine friend.

“She was just such a well-rounded, amazing spirit of a person, and I will miss my friend dearly,” Zerban-Roth said. “The work is what we did every day, but the friendship that I got was a bonus that, when she first started, I didn’t anticipate having, but it’s the hardest thing to lose as we go through these memorials and the service.”

With a legacy for traveling, dedication and kindness, Kathleen leaves behind many fond memories for those with whom she was close as well as a drive to approach life with the same energy and drive as she did.

“Everything I do, I wanna honor her,” Anthony said. “I just want to honor her. I want to do what she did. I want to do what would make her proud.”

(With reporting from Corey Saathoff)