Katherine Hubbell

Kate Hubbell, age 75, of Osgood, Indiana passed away on Saturday, July 6, 2024. She was born Katherine Louise Best in Greenville, Pennsylvania on July 17,1948, the oldest daughter of the late Ralph and Ruby (Sump) Best. She was known as “Kathy” until her Hoosier conversion. (Such conversion never stopped her from antagonizing fans of Indiana-based sports teams.)

Following graduation from Greenville Senior High School in 1966, she enrolled at Ohio Northern University. In college, she met Chuck Hubbell, and without her parents’ knowledge, married him on September 6, 1968. They raised their family in Trenton, Michigan, where Kathy was active in Girl Scouts and President of the Owen Elementary School PTA. When not engaged in civic or social activities, Kathy became a licensed Nursing Home Administrator. Her storied career in nursing home administration spanned facilities in many states, with meaningful stints in Michigan, North Carolina, and various locations in Indiana. In 2002, she put away her golf clubs, donned bib overalls, and bought property in Osgood, Indiana (affectionately, “the farm”), where she resided until her death.

Kathy and Kate loved her family and friends, as well as many rescue dogs. She was not afraid to express her strong opinions about sports, politics, gardening, and cooking. She was a master storyteller, evoking surprise and creating much laughter. Kate enjoyed tending to her blackberry patch, and her pies and cabbage rolls were favorites at pre-game tailgates. She fought and beat more than one form of cancer. Friends were entertained by Kate’s ever-changing hair colors. They enjoyed hearing about her travel, including time on the beaches in Brazil, fishing with her younger daughter in Argentina, and her frank review of the Louvre in Paris. She truly lived life on her terms, never met a stranger, and was a good friend to many.

She will be dearly missed by daughters, Angie and Marsha, and her many friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her younger sister, and many pets, including Gretchen, a beloved Weimaraner that rescued Kate when she fell and broke her neck. A celebration of life will be held at the Osgood Grub Company on Saturday, July 13 from 1-4pm. Online condolences may be expressed at Nealsfuneralhome.net. In lieu of flowers, we suggest stopping in to visit Marsha while she recoups from surgery at Manderley Health Care Center in Osgood.