Kathleen "Katie" Elisabeth Cecelia Schwab

Kathleen Elisabeth Cecelia Schwab, affectionately called and known by most as “Katie”, entered Eternal Life at 11:28 PM on Friday, September 6, 2024, at the Center for Hospice’s Raclin House in Mishawaka, Indiana. Katie was 33 years old.

Katie was born at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Kentucky, to John Francis and Tamara Ann (O’Brien) Schwab on November 13, 1990. In addition to her father and mother, Katie is inconsolably mourned by her siblings: Jennifer Schwab of Granger, Indiana, Sarah (Timothy) Walsh of Granger, Indiana, and Ryan (Aileen Kernan) Schwab of Cincinnati, Ohio. Katie is proceeded in death by her grandparents (paternal) John and Margaret (Boll) Schwab and (maternal) Richard and Martha (Burns) O’Brien – all of Ironton, Ohio.

Katie was a 2009 Co-Valedictorian and Honors Graduate from Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School in Ironton, Ohio, and a 2013 Graduate from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in Marketing and Public Relations.

While at Saint Mary’s College, Katie was actively involved in many organizations, clubs, and sports – just as she had been from elementary through high school. Among all of Katie’s various undergrad activities, she was a Student Athletic Manager for The University of Notre Dame for four years. Katie served Notre Dame’s Women’s Basketball Program in 2012 and in 2013. Following her 2013 graduation from SMC, Katie was invited to join the NDWBB’s program as their full-time Operations Manager. This was the role she was playing at the time of her brain injury in 2014.

In May 2008, following a life-threatening medical emergency, it was discovered that Katie was a Type I Diabetic. In June 2014, Katie faced another life-threatening medical emergency due to T1D following an insulin pump malfunction, which resulted in a Metabolic Traumatic Brain Injury leaving Katie in a minimally conscious, incapacitated state. For a little over ten years, Katie endured much suffering in her daily battle for recovery, restoration, and rehabilitation all while awaiting even greater miracles in and for her. Even in this fight for her life, Katie shared the very best of herself and the very best of the human spirit with everyone she encountered. Katie’s selflessness and capacity to share unconditional light and love only shone all the brighter throughout these last ten years.

On August 31, 2024, things transpired beyond Katie's control that were fundamentally too much for Katie to endure. The profound complexities of Katie's situation exacerbated by a series of recent and compounding medical severities took their toll. Katie fought a tremendous fight over the course of the last ten years and three months. Those who have known her and followed this chapter of her greater story are witnesses to Katie’s grit, grace, strength, courage, and spirit. Ultimately, Katie was forced to face a battle that she simply had no chance of winning. After a little over 33 hours in Hospice, God spared Katie from prolonged suffering rewarding her good and faithful service for all souls a final miracle of eternal restoration and recovery in Heaven. Katie’s short yet extraordinary life perfectly captured the life of discipleship lived with love in the service of good.

To know Katie Schwab – pre and/or post injury – is to know the truest and purest forms of love, light, good, friendship, beauty, strength, bravery, perseverance, faith, joy, and miracles. Those wishing to honor and celebrate Katie, her life, her spirit, and her journey are invited to attend one or both of the following two services.

In Indiana: Thursday, September 12, 2024 – 5:00 PM Visitation with 6:30 PM Rosary following with a 7 PM Mass in Le Mans Hall at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. Father Jim Bracke, CSC, officiating.

In Ohio: Saturday, September 14, 2024 – 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM Visitation at O’Keefe Baker Funeral Home then an 11 AM Funeral Mass at Saint Lawrence Catholic Church in Ironton, Ohio with Chirstian Burial at Saint Mary’s Cemetery, Pine Grove. Father Wayne Morris officiating.

To joyfully celebrate Katie and the people and places closest to her heart, the Schwab family invites those attending to join our family in wearing one of Katie’s favorite colors: Purple and Gold (St. Joseph HS), Blue and White (Saint Mary’s College), or the Navy, Gold, or Green (Notre Dame/TeamKatie).

In lieu of flowers or cards, monetary gifts may be made to TeamKatie’s GO FUND ME account via the following website link: http://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-schwab-family-in-katies-memory Donations will be used to jump start a Trust in Katie’s Name to advocate and support the education and awareness of Type I Diabetes, Traumatic Brain Injury, and more in Katie’s honor and memory. Thank you!