Kathleen Mary Jeffords

Kathleen “Kathy” Mary Jeffords (78) of Madison, WI died peacefully at Agrace Hospice on June 28, 2025 after an 11-month battle with blood cancer.

Born February 28, 1947 in Hartford, WI to Raymond and Helen (O’Neill) Jeffords, Kathleen was the youngest of four children. She graduated from Hartford High School in 1965 and earned a BA from St. Norbert College in 1969. She went on to complete her Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1971. Her Accreditation to the Academy of Certified Social Workers was effected in 1973.

Kathleen joined the staff of the Dane County Family Court Counseling Service in July 1971. She became its second director in May 1979 and served in that position until her retirement in January 2008. She was a catalyst for divorce reform throughout the state, always advocating for children and looking to support family relationships and to reduce the adversarial nature of the divorce transition through the mediation process. Her work was instrumental in enacting the 1989 family law that mandated Family Court Counseling services in every Wisconsin county, promoting cooperative parenting and assisting with family restructuring when parents were no longer together. A natural teacher, she co-developed a one-day seminar for the University Extension on Family Law and taught it all over the state. Kathleen served as a faculty member at the State Bar of Wisconsin Continuing Legal Education section and was a faculty member of the Wisconsin Judicial College. She was always willing to share her time and expertise – with colleagues, the courts, the state legislature, other states, panels, and family and friends.

Family was a priority in Kathleen’s personal life as well. From her childhood, her biological family was a constant presence with extended family celebrating holidays together and regularly holding summer picnics and gatherings. She continued this tradition by hosting annual cousins’ weekends in Madison each fall, leading ski trips for her nieces and the teenage daughters of her cousins (none of whom skied), and being a keeper of the family history. For Kathleen, family also included her chosen people: her friends from school, “The Group” - which started in the late 1970s as a book club and still met monthly, her professional colleagues and friends, her Tempo networking group, and her golf, mahjong and pickleball groups. She was an avid gardener as well as an exceptional cook and hostess who brought people together and cultivated community.

Kathleen valued travel and understanding the world through experience. She got her initial passport in 1969 when she took her first trip to Europe. Her travels took her all over the globe, and her particularly memorable trips included visiting China, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Cuba, Morocco, Iceland, Jordan, South America, Easter Island and Israel, as well as attending two Rose Bowls in Pasadena, CA to cheer on the Wisconsin Badgers.

Kathleen was kind, generous, intelligent, and hardworking. She loved her people fiercely and will be deeply missed by them. She was preceded in death by her parents and older brothers, Bob, Tom and Charles. Kathleen is survived by her nieces Kerry Jeffords (Ian Brock) of London, England, Erin Slife of Colorado Springs, CO, great-nephew Luke Slife of Colorado Springs, CO, sister-in-law Carol Jeffords of Annandale, VA and her lifetime friend and end-of-life caretaker Lynne Adolphson of Madison, WI – along with numerous extended family members and dear friends. Her loved ones are deeply appreciative of the excellent care Kathleen received from the professionals at Carbone Cancer Center and Agrace Hospice.

A private interment of ashes will be held at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Hartford, WI. A celebration of life will be held in Kathleen’s honor this fall in Wisconsin. To be notified of the details of this event when they’re available, please send your contact information to celebrateKMJ@gmail.com. All are invited to share memories and photos to that e-mail address as well.