Obituary
Kathleen Pias

Kathleen Clower Pias, a longtime resident of Lake Charles, LA and most recently of Raleigh, NC, died peacefully on Feb 19, 2024, with her family at her side after a brief battle with pneumonia. Born at 4lbs on Feb 14, 1945, to a farmer and a schoolteacher Mary and Prentiss Clower in Vicksburg, MS, Kathleen was a trailblazer, the Dorothy Day of her generation. She was raised in St. Joe, Louisiana on Lake Bruin where she spent countless hours with her siblings and beloved nieces and nephews. She went on to LSU with support from a Betty Crocker cooking scholarship where she graduated in 1967 with her BS in Education. Shortly thereafter on May 8, 1968, she married 2nd Lt. Scott Pias who then deployed to Vietnam. In his absence, she taught the children of the soldiers at Barksdale. This began her reliance on her strong faith in God. When Scott left the service for LSU law school, they began their family with the birth of Lannon and thus began the Pias team trailblazing. Scott and Kathleen moved to Lake Charles, LA and with fellow ARC parents built a thriving community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), i.e., writing grants for and painting the walls of group homes, leading athletes to the International Special Olympics games, and developing the Regina Caeli school to educate those with IDD, chairing boards, and walking the halls of hospitals to welcome new IDD babies to the community. She and her husband were also a staunch advocates for the mentally ill and supported the establishment of a local NAMI chapter and building housing for those with mental illness. Kathleen’s education included two master’s degrees from McNeese State University (Early Childhood Education and Counseling). She was a constant in the school systems of her community from Barksdale to Baton Rouge, to Lake Charles; she taught and provided school counseling as a Licensed Professional Counselor to 3 or more generations of children and her impact was evident by her popularity at the grocery store. She embraced life as well as those she encountered with a sincere and profound love. Kathleen loved her family and 3 children, often hosting her huge extended family with gatherings of more than 50 people. The world is a better place for having had her among us for the last 79 years. Kathleen is survived by her husband of 55 years Scott and three children, Lannon, Erin Hines (Ian) and Stacey Rowe (Paul), and her sister Judith Burt as well as countless extended family members. A funeral mass will be celebrated in her honor on March 5th at 10 am at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Raleigh, NC.