By Julie Hannon Alumni Coordinator

Kathy Yancey Laborie died the way she lived – fulfilling a dream. "I get peace from knowing she was doing something she loved," said Flo Yancey of her only daughter. "Kathy just loved aviation and flying. She had made it her life career." 

The deliberate collision has been replayed on television hundreds, if not thousands of times. "We tried not to see it, of course," said Kathy’s father Gene Yancey about a week after the attack at a news conference in Kathy’s hometown of Colorado Springs, Co. "It just conjures up the worst thing that’s ever happened to us, ever. The holes in our hearts are just too large."

But the Yancey’s say they don’t mind that their grief has become public. It gives them a chance to tell the world about their first born. "That smile of hers, it got you every time. She was adventurous and gregarious, always wanting to be around people and trying new things," said Gene, who retired from the Air Force in 1973.

Kathy’s shipmates also fondly recalled her trademark smile. "While obviously a lot of years have passed since we sailed together, I remember her well. I remember her love of people and the fact that she always wore a smile," a shipboard friend wrote in email upon learning of Kathy’s death. "This world lost one of the good ones."

More than 1,200 people, many of them strangers, joined the Yancey’s September 21 to celebrate Kathy’s life at a public memorial service at Holy Apostle Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. The outpouring of love has helped the Yancey’s find peace. 

"We have gotten literally hundreds of cards and letters thanking us for celebrating her life, for allowing them to share in our grief. Many of those who sent their sympathy did not even know Kathy. It really is amazing," said Flo, who added her daughter’s love of travel flourished after Semester at Sea. "We were a military family so we lived a number of places including Hawaii. When she realized the opportunity of Semester at Sea existed, she quickly took advantage of it. She never stopped traveling, she loved it, and always talked of India and her visit there," said Flo, who has asked all media outlets to include Kathy’s maiden name in stories written about her so that shipmates around the country will recognize her shipboard name.

Kathy was born March 14, 1957 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graduated from Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs in 1975, attended the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for two years before earning a scholarship to Denver University, where she traveled on SAS. Kathy earned a marketing and business degree and later campaigned for Colorado Republican candidates.

Gene talked of his daughter’s big brown eyes, her love of skydiving and her job as vicedirector of aviation at the Front Range Airport in Denver. He said Kathy later followed her first husband Bill Schultz to Tampa, Fl. and joined a cruise line as a marketing director. Wanting to fly, six years ago she decided to train as a flight attendant. United hired her and she was based in Boston and routinely worked the Boston to Los Angeles and San Francisco flights.

At that moment, Flo said she knew her daughter was gone. "I just went numb," Flo said. "I knew before the airline called to tell us about 40 minutes later. I knew because she would have called if she could."

On October 21, Kathy would have been married to Eric Laborie two years. The couple lived in Boston. In addition to her husband and parents, Kathy is survived by brothers, Mark and Kevin Yancey, both of Colorado Springs; sisters-in-law, Lynette and Yvonne; and nephews, Matthew and Joshua.

Semester at Sea wishes to thank Flo and Gene Yancey for their generous gift to the Annual Fund in memory of their daughter and other shipmates lost in this tragedy. Gifts can be sent to the Kathryn Yancey Laborie Memorial Fund, c/o Father Paul, Holy Apostles Catholic Church, 4925 N. Carefree Circle, Colorado Springs, Co. 80917.