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This is part of a Yahoo News Series honoring some of the American lives lost to COVID-19. Their stories are told by their family and friends, who had to deal with their often sudden and painful deaths.
Kathy Ann Weldon, 63, of Salem, Missouri, died on January 24, 2021, after falling ill with COVID-19. She is among more than 500,000 Americans who have lost their lives to the disease since the coronavirus pandemic began early last year.
Her 28-year-old husband Randy Weldon told Yahoo News his wife was a loving mother, grandmother and the love of her life.
Kathy Weldon was a medical technologist who worked in small town hospital labs for almost 30 years. Most recently, Weldon worked at Salem Memorial District Hospital, where she was director of the laboratory department. She had just retired in 2019.
Her husband says “she was a very dedicated employee” who loved to help those she led.
“Kathy would cover people’s shifts during the holidays,” he said. “She just felt like she needed to get in there, work and help the employees. … We were empty nesters. She was working during the holidays so that other people who had children could enjoy their holidays at home with their children, and we would make up for that later.
Her daughter, Laura Johnson, said one of her mother’s favorite activities outside of the lab was fishing. “She taught us all to fish,” Johnson said, adding that Weldon also loved painting and DIY and was “an avid cross-stitch enthusiast”.
Randy Weldon remembered how much his wife loved children. She loved alternative teaching and enjoyed doing lab demonstrations for elementary school students.
She loved her grandchildren very much. The couple had 11 grandchildren who Weldon said “were the loves of his life.”
Randy and Kathy Weldon contracted COVID in mid-December 2020. The virus didn’t affect Randy as much, but Kathy quickly deteriorated. After being hospitalized for five weeks, she lost her battle with the disease.
For Randy Weldon, losing his life partner has been devastating. “It’s a very difficult situation to go through, when you are married or have partnered with someone for so long and they are suddenly gone. … And you say to yourself, “I don’t know if I can do this,” he said.
He recently started working with a counselor to help him cope with his loss, and he strongly encourages those who have lost a loved one to COVID to consider doing so as well.
“I urge you to seek this help,” he said. “Don’t try to wear it alone.”
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