Kathryn & Richard's Fight For A Family

Military veteran and police officer, Richard, and his wife, Kathryn, are fighting for their family. Kathryn, the daughter of missionaries and a small business owner, found out she had inoperable cervical cancer in 2022 in which treatment would make it impossible for them to start a family on their own. Now, after finding each other later in life, struggling through loss, and beating cancer, they are relying on their faith in Jesus Christ to sustain them as they pray for God to bring them a child through adoption.

“Be Not Afraid, Only Believe…” -Mark 5:36

Please consider monetarily becoming a part of God’s perfect plan for their family. Kathryn and Richard’s full story is below, but what stands out about these two is they haven’t stopped loving and serving those around them, even in the darkest moments. Surrounded by children that refer to them as KatKat and Uncle Richard, they tirelessly give so much of their own time and resources that we can only imagine the love in store for any child who is blessed enough to have Kathryn and Richard as parents.

Kathryn didn’t start in Bainbridge. Her parents, Isaiah and Jan, served God as missionaries through the North American Mission Board in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were church planters, music teachers, performers, and gracious hostesses, but that all changed in Kathryn’s 20s when her father was diagnosed with liver disease. Kathryn gave up her career goals and moved with her back to her mother’s hometown of Bainbridge, GA. She took on the role of primary caregiver for her father while securing a new business venture as the owner of the Commodore Bed and Breakfast. Unfortunately, in June of 2014, at the age of 59, he passed away. Kathryn determined to make a new life in her new small town and became active in various community endeavors and her new church family at First Baptist Church of Bainbridge.

Originally from Dothan, AL, Richard joined the Army reserves. Discovering a passion for serving his country and community, Richard decided military life suited him well and he went into active duty and was stationed at Fort Hood. After serving several years, he decided he needed to make his family a priority and settled in Bainbridge where his parents and grandparents were living. Richard took a position as a police officer with Bainbridge Public Safety and works shifts as a deputy for Decatur County Sheriff’s Department.

You could say a passion for Jesus and music brought these two together. After attending the same church for a while and becoming active members in the choir and on the praise teams, Richard asked her out and the two have been inseparable ever since. They dated through a hurricane and the pandemic before marrying in 2020. They continue lead worship and work side by side in the children’s department. It is very common to find them loading up their SUV with their friends’ children to bring them to church.

As they settled into married life and began to plan for a family of their own, these two again had to put their priority to start a family together aside to care for Kathryn’s mom, Jan, who was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Although she beat the cancer once, it returned with a vengeance. Kathryn was again the main caregiver for a parent. But this time, she was so grateful for Richard who stepped in and was often the one to help Jan during the worst periods and loved her like she was his own mother. In February of 2022, at the age of 68, “Mama Jan” passed away. During this time of grief, things were about to take a turn again.

In July of 2022, Kathryn began experiencing pain which led her to the ER. It was there that she discovered that she was having a miscarriage. As they had been trying since the first of their marriage to conceive a child, this alone was a major blow, but a follow-up appointment after the miscarriage revealed that she would need further tests and examinations. After months of waiting on results, seeing specialists, and countless unanswered questions, it was discovered that Kathryn had an inoperable form of cervical cancer. She underwent extensive radiation and chemotherapy which unfortunately, made having biological children together impossible. Now, with a clean bill of health, these two are finally able to focus on starting a family together through adoption.