Kathy has been a lifelong educator, for 27 years she enjoyed working in the horticulture and plant science departments. Working in academia with students, staff and faculty brought its challenges, but she quickly discovered it was the people who made the positive difference each day. After retiring in January 2015, she felt it was important to make a commitment to fund an award acknowledging the valuable role of staff who contribute significantly to the department’s success. This fund supports an outstanding service award for staff in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.