Kay Lynn Tilburg

Kay Lynn (Ottman) Tilburg

October 19, 1947 – August 6th, 2025

Kay Lynn Tilburg, a devoted mother, grandmother, nurse, and cherished friend, passed away peacefully on 12:08 am August 6th, 2025 at the age of 77 in Overland Park, Kansas due to liver cancer. Her life was a testament to compassion, resilience, and love for both people and nature.

Kay was born on October 19, 1947, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Aletha Grace Hall and Kenneth Fyock. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Kansas City, where Aletha later married Walter Ottman, who adopted Kay as his own. Kay grew up in Kansas City’s historic Northeast neighborhood alongside her beloved sisters, LeEllen Rose (Ottman) Healey and Mary Leslie (Ottman) Schnell, often surrounded by the warmth of their grandparents living just upstairs.

A proud graduate of Loretto Academy in 1965, Kay went on to pursue nursing at Research Hospital in Kansas City. Upon earning her degree, she began her nursing career in pediatric care at the KU Medical Center. Ever adventurous, Kay and a friend made a spontaneous decision one spring to move to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she accepted a nursing position at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu.

It was there that Kay met Robert (Bob) Allen Tilburg through her roommate, Kathleen Tilburg, whose husband was serving in the Vietnam War. After becoming engaged, they traveled to Boston to meet Bob’s family, then drove to Kansas City for their wedding in September 1972. The couple honeymooned on a road trip to San Diego and ultimately decided to settle in San Diego. They welcomed two children, Michelle Lynn Tilburg Mitchell and Michael Allen Tilburg, while living in the San Diego area.

In 1977, Kay and Bob moved their young family to a home on Hillandale Drive. Though they later divorced, Kay and Bob remained supportive co-parents, working together with mutual respect for the benefit of their children. Later in life, they reconciled and reestablished a warm and friendly connection, especially around their shared joy in their children and grandchildren.

Kay continued her career as a registered nurse in San Diego, spending most of her time at Children’s Hospital in San Diego, working primarily on the pediatric med/surg unit before dedicating herself to pediatric oncology. Her deep empathy, clinical skill, and heartfelt connection with families—especially teenagers—left a lasting impression on all who knew her. She often reflected on the special relationships she formed with patients and their loved ones during their most vulnerable moments.

Kay later went on to obtain her Bachelor of Science degree at California State University Dominguez Hills in Nursing in 1990.

After retiring from nursing in 2010, Kay moved to Overland Park, Kansas, in 2018 with her mother Aletha. Kay was a dedicated attendee of so many sporting and school events, proudly cheering on her local grandchildren. Already an online member at Church of the Resurrection and a quite frequent in-person visitor when visiting Overland Park, Kay became very active when she moved to Overland Park, serving as a volunteer medical responder for Sunday services and participating in small group ministries—especially with fellow medical professionals, whom she cherished deeply. Among her favorite traditions was attending “Christmas at Resurrection” each year with Michelle—sometimes with other family members, sometimes just the two of them—an event that filled her heart with peace, music, and joy. She also volunteered at the Overland Park Arboretum, first tending to the grounds and later assisting in the Bluebird Monitoring Program, where she helped collect vital conservation data while enjoying time in nature.

Kay found joy in her family, service, community, and the beauty of the natural world. She treasured her time with family, especially her four grandchildren: Andrew and Katherine Mitchell, children of Michelle and her husband Justin Mitchell of Overland Park; and Finn and Hanna Tilburg, children of Michael and his wife Vanessa Tilburg, who live in Germany. Kay visited Germany after each grandchild was born in 2017 and 2018, joined the family for joyful Christmas market outings and a memorable trip to Lake Constance, and never missed a biweekly video call with the grandchildren. She especially cherished celebrating Finn’s first day of school—a treasured German family tradition—and made magical memories on a Disneyland trip with Finn and Hanna. Kay loved being part of their lives and proudly shared stories of their milestones and personalities.

Kay had an insatiable desire to explore and travel, visiting Europe for the first time in 1972 with friends. In 1986 she road-tripped with Michelle and Michael for over a month, visiting US National Parks, the Canadian Rockies and the west coast of the US, camping every night at a different KOA. One of her most memorable travel adventures was in 2002. She and her mother, Aletha, rented a car for a six week-long road trip through Europe, with Michelle joining them for the final week—a journey full of laughter, exploration, and treasured moments across the continent. She was joined by her children and some of her extended family on her last trip to Paris and Normandy in 2024, In 2025 she cruised the Panama Canal with loved ones, however she had a special place in her heart for Hawaii, visiting frequently throughout her life including a final trip to Maui earlier this summer with her sisters Mary and Lee and daughter Michelle.

Kay is survived by her children, Michelle Mitchell (Justin) and Michael Tilburg (Vanessa); her grandchildren Andrew, Katherine, Finn, and Hanna; her sisters, LeEllen Healey (Glenn) of Bloomfield Hills, MI and Mary Leslie Schnell (Dennis) of Belton, MO and a wide circle of extended family, church friends, former colleagues, Loretto Academy classmates and those whose lives she touched with her warmth, presence, and quiet strength.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, August 13th at the Wesley Covenant Chapel Building C at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection: 13720 Roe Ave, Leawood, KS 66224. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Children’s Ministries.

Kay’s memory lives on in the lives she helped heal, the gardens she nurtured, and the generations she inspired through kindness and courage.

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