ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
SHE WAS KNOWN to many as "The Mingler," for her woman-about-town columns. She was known to her friends as an exceptionally good-hearted person.
Roanoke Valley writer Kathleen Wilson, best known for her humorous and sometimes poignant "Mingling" column that ran in The Roanoke Times from 1991 until 1995, died early Wednesday at age 38.
The cause of her death, which followed surgery in a Roanoke hospital Tuesday afternoon, had not been determined Wednesday.
Wilson, affectionately known as "the Mingler" by fans, figured she'd partied with thousands of Western Virginia residents - all in the line of duty.
In her final "Mingling" column on July 25, 1995, she wrote, "In four years, I have partied with doctors, drag queens, lawyers, artists, bikers, Marines, preschoolers, punk rockers, and gone backstage with Garth Brooks and Guns N' Roses.
"I have had a blast. A lot of fun. I've had a great time. I've loved it."
"When we came up with the concept for 'Mingling,' thinking about who could do it and do it well, it was clear to me that Kathy was the only choice," said Roanoke Times Editor Wendy Zomparelli.
"I don't think anybody could have pulled it off the way Kathy did."
Wilson's assignment was to mix in "wherever people get together" and write about her experiences. She wrote about parties for month-old babies and 100-year-old grandmothers. She once hosted - and transcribed - a party in a cyberspace "chat room" via the Internet. She wrote about a "Hooker's Ball" that wasn't for prostitutes. She mingled with Marine veterans of Desert Storm and in the same article looked in on the Miss Gay Virginia Pageant.
Wilson even figured it was a "Mingling" event - and she worried about not serving her guests food - when neighbors gathered with her in the yard of her Salem home as the fire department put out a fire in the attic.
Born in Shelbyville, Ind., Kathleen Wilson considered Pittsburgh her home and attended Pennsylvania State University, where she met her husband, Roanoke College professor Harry Wilson. The two were married in 1984 in the university's chapel. Though they separated in 1989 and later divorced, the pair remained close.
"She could go from Affair in the Square to Franklin County Speedway and - with a quick change of clothes - be accepted and welcomed in both places," said Wilson, who was at his ex-wife's side shortly before her death.
Harry and Kathleen Wilson were married in 1984 in the chapel at Pennsylvania State University, where they met as undergraduates. Though they separated in 1989 and later divorced, they remained close
Wilson pointed out that "most people in this area know her only from the 'Mingling' column. While that was well done, they didn't see the serious side of her."
Kathleen Wilson had been editor of a trade publication in New York City on the gift business and had written for Women's Wear Daily.
She had done public relations work for Virginia Tech, and she wrote business and feature articles for The Roanoke Times in addition to the "Mingling" column.
"I think she'd like to be remembered as a good person first, and as a good writer second," Harry Wilson said Wednesday.
"She was intelligent, clever, kind and caring," he said. "She liked being around people, and she really did care about people."
Kathleen Wilson's caring nature was recalled Wednesday by some of those who knew her best.
After meeting an AIDS patient on a Mingling assignment, she became a volunteer with the Roanoke AIDS Project. She was a "buddy" to two AIDS patients at different times.
Friend Ellen Flaherty Formanek, former program director at WROV-FM, recalled that "Kathy always saw the good things in people, always found beauty in ugly situations."
Wilson "was always there for her friends. Even if she was really sick, she always had time to listen to you, to your traumas of the day," Formanek said.
Wilson was "all about people," said former Roanoke Times business writer Lon Wagner, now a reporter for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. "If any of her friends ever needed her at any time, she was there."
She is survived by three sisters.
A memorial service is scheduled Saturday at 10 a.m. in Antrim Chapel on the campus of Roanoke College. Funeral home visitation is tentatively planned for Friday evening at Oakey's North Chapel.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Wilsonby CNB