Etta Kathryn Blauvelt was born on 4. Nov. 1913. She was the daughter of
Charles Ross Blauvelt and
Loretta Covalt. Etta Kathryn Blauvelt married
Woodrow W. Little on 11. Apr. 1935. Etta Kathryn Blauvelt resided at at Bluffton, Allen County, Ohio. She died on 14. Feb. 2005 at Bluffton, Allen County, Indiana, at age 91. Ex-Bluffton coach was sports pioneer
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Kathryn E. Little, 91, thought to be the first female coach at the former Bluffton College and who helped form a local collegiate women's league, died Monday in a Columbus-area assisted-living center.
Her health had declined over the last 18 months, her son, David, said. He did not know the exact cause of death.
Mrs. Little lived at Maple Crest of Mennonite Memorial Home near Bluffton for several years after leaving her longtime home on West Kibler Street in Bluffton.
Mrs. Little received an education degree from what is now Bluffton University in the late 1950s after taking years off from college to marry and rear a family. Soon after she graduated, she was offered a teaching and coaching position in the college's physical education department.
"They gave her a couple baseball bats, a couple of raggedy softballs, and partially deflated basketballs," her son said.
But Mrs. Little was able to take the volleyball, basketball, and tennis teams she coached to a competitive level. She helped establish the collegiate women's league, which included Ohio Northern, Defiance, Heidelberg, Findlay, and Bluffton.
She was honored for her work as one of the five charter members selected for the Bluffton College Athletic Hall of Fame. The Kathryn E. Little Award has been given annually since 1979 to the top senior female athlete chosen by university faculty.
Born in Putnam County, most of her growing-up years were spent in Leipsic, where her father was a banker. She was valedictorian of her class at Leipsic High School and went on to attend what is now the University of Findlay, where she played basketball and tennis.
In 1935, she married Woodrow Little. Both were employed at dime stores before he became a rural mail carrier and she became a stay-at-home mother.
During World War II, however, Mrs. Little took over her husband's mail route when he was in the Navy.
In the late 1950s, when her children were growing up and she was at Bluffton College, she was a volunteer instructor at tennis clinics in the village, that were open to anyone who wanted to learn to play. One of her early students was her husband, who went on to win tournaments in area cities.
The Littles played golf regularly, and Mrs. Little had a hole-in-one at age 60.
For decades, she was among about a dozen women in the Kibler Street Bridge Club as well as the larger Alpha Gamma Sorority in Bluffton. She and her husband, who died in 1997, had been elders at Bluffton Presbyterian Church.
Surviving are her sons, David, Richard, and William; sisters, Marvel Hillebrand and Margie Kerins, and five grandsons.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in Bluffton Presbyterian Church. Chiles & Sons-Laman Funeral Home, Bluffton, is handling arrangements.
The family suggests tributes to the Bluffton University women's athletic department or the church.
Etta Kathryn 'Katie' Little
BLUFFTON -- Etta Kathryn "Katie" Little, 91, of W. Kibler St., Bluffton, died at 2:10 a.m. Feb. 14, 2005 at the Sanctuary at Tuttle Crossing, Dublin. She was born Nov. 4, 1913 in Belmore to Charles Ross and Loretta Covalt (Jones) Blauvelt. On Apr. 11, 1935 she married Woodrow W. Little and he preceded her in death on Mar. 6, 1997.
Surviving are three sons, David A. (Bev) Little of Zanesville; Richard E. (Vickie) Little of Clarkson, MI; William J. (Debbie) Little of Powell; two sisters, Marvel (Bill) Hillebrand and Margie Kerins both of Toledo; and five grandsons, Matthew (Lisa); Michael; Joshua; Anthony; and John.
She was preceded in death by five brothers, Fred; Edward; Ralph; Dahl; and Vaughn Blauvelt; and a sister, Elizabeth Phillips.
Mrs. Little was a retired health and physical education professor and intercollegiate coach at Bluffton College. She was the first female employee and coach in the Bluffton College Athletic Dept. and was instrumental in establishing the Women's Athletic Dept. at Bluffton College. She helped establish the intercollegiate women's league made up initially of Bluffton, Ohio Northern, Defiance, Heidelberg and Findlay, and was an adviser to the Women's Varsity "B" organization. She was one of the five charter members elected to the Bluffton College Athletic Hall of Fame. The Kathryn E. Little Award has been given annually since 1979 to the top senior female athlete of the year as selected by the Bluffton Univ. Athletic Faculty.
Mrs. Little was a member and elder of the Bluffton Presbyterian Church. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Sorority and a member of the Kibler Street Bridge Club of which comedian Phyllis Diller was an original member. She conducted numerous tennis clinics for the local community. An avid golfer, she had a hole in one at the age of sixty. She was a graduate of Leipsic High School where she was class valedictorian. She attended Findlay College and graduated from Bluffton College with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.
A memorial service will be held 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bluffton Presbyterian church, the Rev. Lewis VanderNaald officiating. A private burial will occur in Maple Grove Cemetery, Bluffton.
The family will receive friends following the service at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Women's Athletic Dept. at Bluffton University or the Bluffton Presbyterian Church.
Arrangements are under the direction of Chiles and Sons-Laman Funeral Home, Bluffton (www.chiles-lamanfh.com).