Our FCNL family mourns the loss of our dear colleague and friend, Kathy Guthrie, whose love and compassion nurtured this community for decades. Kathy passed away on June 13, 2025.
Kathy served on staff as the heartbeat of FCNL’s field program from 1992 to 2009. Before joining FCNL, she led peace work in Pittsburgh. In her role as Field Secretary, Kathy led outreach to the Quaker community, organized Annual Meeting, staffed the Nominating Committee, and supported grassroots organizing with FCNL’s network. She was instrumental in distributing FCNL’s “War Is Not the Answer” signs and bumper stickers around the country after the attacks of 9/11.
More recently, Kathy returned to serve on FCNL’s governing committee, serving as clerk of Nominating Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.
Kathy was already a steady presence on staff when I joined FCNL as an intern (program assistant) in 1996. She was affectionately known to many of us as “the intern mom” — taking time to support young staff personally while she powered FCNL’s network and took care of our community in countless ways over the years.
To know Kathy was to love Kathy. She always had her heart and ears available to support staff, committee members, and people across our network. She was an incredible connector; much of any conversation was finding connections to common friends. She welcomed countless people into her family.
Kathy is survived by her husband (and former FCNL staff) Tim Barner, her 6 children, 11 grandchildren, 2 siblings, and many other family and friends.
I am so grateful to have known, learned from, and worked alongside Kathy. Upon the occasion of her retirement from FCNL in 2009, staff and volunteers shared videos honoring her legacy. Here are a few of those tributes, including mine:
Carol Nickle
Marie Reitmann, Kathy, Here Is Your Wand
Phil Furnas, Kathy and Annual Meeting
Kathy touched the lives of countless people across FCNL and the country. She lives on through all those who loved her. We will miss her dearly.
Please share your memories and tributes to Kathy: email us and we will post them below.
