Kathleen C. "Katie" Tritt

Kathleen C. “Katie” Tritt, 73, of Davenport, died Sunday, January 22, 2024.  A time to gather and celebrate Katie’s life will be held from 4 until 7 p.m. Friday, February 23, 2024 at Me and Billy’s, 200 W. 3^rd Street, Davenport. Please wear Hawkeye attire to Katie’s celebration. Keeping with her wishes, Katie donated her body to the University of Iowa College of Medicine.  Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Figge Art Museum, Friends of Vander Veer, or All Saints Catholic School.

Kathleen Clare Blunk was born on October 30, 1950, the oldest child of Mary Eleanor (Goodall) and William J. Blunk, Jr.  She graduated from Assumption High School in 1968 and the University of Iowa in 1972 and later earned her master’s degree from Western Illinois.  Katie was united in marriage to John E. Tritt on August 21, 1971 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church by Msgr. W. Robert Schmidt.  They have shared over 52 years of memories and travels together.  

Katie’s first job was at the Dairy Queen at Five Points in Davenport, where she especially enjoyed making Dilly Bars which later she enjoyed sharing with her love of them with her grandsons.  Katie taught at Holy Family Catholic School, Jefferson, Grant, Garfield, and Wilson Elementary Schools before retiring in 2009.  She continued to sub in the Davenport Schools until her passing.

Katie was always on the go and had a social calendar that would exhaust most people.  She belonged to a card club, sewing club, dinner club, and regularly got together with her high school classmates. She loved to support the arts and enjoyed them in the beautiful city of Chicago, at the Figge Art Museum, Adler Theater, and Quad City Symphony.  Katie had a great love of traveling, all over the world including Ireland, Spain, Italy, Egypt, France, Germany, Mexico, and Costa Rica just to name a few.  Katie also enjoyed biking, having done three RAGBRAI’s.

Above all, she cherished her family, being a wife to John, a mother and mother-in-law, to Brian and Jenna and especially a grandma to Will and Jack whom she would give the world to.  Katie was a selfless, caring, loving human who generously shared what she had with others.   She was full of life and will be missed by all who knew and loved her.  

Katie bled black and gold; her love of the Hawkeyes ran deep and was a Hawkeye women’s team fanatic. She was a Hawkeye to the end, attending the men’s game against Purdue the day before she passed, and now in death her earthly body returned to Iowa City and the school she loved so much.  

Those left to cherish Katie’s memory are her loving husband, John, Davenport; son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Jenna Tritt, Bettendorf; grandsons, Will and Jack; siblings: Joe Blunk, Ames, Jim Blunk, Davenport, Rosemary (Tom) Wolfe, Eldridge, and John Blunk, Davenport; brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, Dennis (Darla) Tritt, and Bonnie Stahl, all of Rockford; niece and nephews Chris Tritt, Andrew Tritt, Sigrid Wis, Kurt Stahl, Jack, Bobby, and Tommy Wolfe.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother-in-law, Mike Stahl, and the family dog, Rosie.