KATE SCHULTZ COLON

Former Alaskan resident Kate Marie Schultz Colon, 25, died of osteosarcoma March 26, 2004, at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

A celebration of her life and faith will take place Sunday at 7 p.m. at Lazy Mountain Bible Church in Palmer.

Mrs. Colon was born March 22, 1979, in Englewood, Colo., to George and Kathy Schultz. She moved to Alaska with her parents in 1981 and lived in Palmer until 1995, when they moved to North Carolina. She attended Colony High School in Mat-Su.

Her family said she never lost her love for Alaska and returned to visit on a couple of occasions. She graduated from Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C., with a bachelor of science degree in intercultural studies.

Mrs. Colon worked for SIM, USA in Charlotte, coordinating teams for short-term missions trips. She was thrilled to go to Siberia and China and felt God had called her to be a missionary.

She married Joel Colon in 2003 in Spindale, N.C.

Her family said, "She loved being [Joel's] wife and making a home for them. She also taught Sunday School at Cornerstone Fellowship in Forest City, N.C. Kate loved her Lord Jesus Christ whole-heartedly."

In addition to her husband and parents, she is also survived by her brother, Nathan, and sister, Beth; maternal grandparents, Paul and Gladys Finch, of Roebuck, S.C.; and paternal grandparents, George and Laura Schultz, of Rock Hill, S.C. She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Dorothy Schultz.

Memorial donations may be made to Kate Schultz Colon Scholarship Fund, Columbia International University, ATTN: Development Dept., P.O. Box 3122 Columbia, SC 29230, or to Kate Schultz Colon Memorial Benevolence Fund, Hope Cancer Ministries, 4824 Sharon View Rd. Charlotte, NC 28226.