Kathleen Joanne Hanlon

Kathleen Joanne Hanlon (89) passed away on Thursday, September 4, 2025. Visitation will be held on Friday, September 26, 2025, at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home & Crematory (8201 Hickman Rd., Urbandale, IA) from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m. Funeral services will follow the visitation. Interment will be held at Glendale Cemetery (4909 University Ave, Des Moines, IA) Memorial contributions can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Kathleen (Kay) Joanne Hanlon, 89, of Des Moines, Iowa, passed away peacefully with family by her side on Thursday, September 4, 2025.

Kay was born on September 11, 1935, to Roy and Ida Elizabeth (Wilkins) Battrell in Des Moines, IA. After losing her mother to cancer when Kay was 12, her father and her big sister, Jeanette Dempewolf Tangeman, moved Kay in with Jeanette’s young family in Bellevue, Iowa, where Kay thrived at school, made dear friends, and embraced her role as a beloved aunt and caregiver to her nieces and nephews.

Kay moved back to Des Moines for her senior year and graduated from North High School. Her best friend, Jean Forrer Ingram, introduced Kay to Jean’s cousin, Thomas J. Hanlon, Jr., a young photographer and veteran of the Korean War. The family had five kids. Kay worked part-time at the Ivy Camera Shop, but went to work full-time for The Bankers Life (which later became Principal Financial) when her husband Tom suffered several strokes and a long-term illness. Later, Kay began taking classes at DMACC and received a B.A. from Upper Iowa University.

Kay was a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother, and as such, was a tremendous role model and family caregiver, though she never regarded her efforts as a sacrifice. She loved reading, traveling, and piecing together puzzles on her iPad, but her best memories came from vacationing at the condo she once co-owned on the Lake of the Ozarks, where she enjoyed fishing, the view from the deck, and helping kids water ski and jet ski.

She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Jeanette; her husband, Tom; her son, John; her nephew, Joseph Paul Dempewolf; and her niece, Eileen Salamon.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Kathy, Thomas III (Sheree), Michael, Carolyn and daughter-in-law, Kim; nieces and nephews, Peggy (Michael) Quillman, Rita Partridge, Diane (Lee) Borden, Tom (Helen) Dempewolf, Nancy (Phil) Mella, and Cathy (Tim) Zigler; grandchildren, Erica (Adam) Lueder; Thomas IV Hanlon, and Kara (Jess) Hanlon; David (Devon) Kern and Samantha (Kevin) Wheeler, and great-grandchildren, Nick and McKenzie Lueder; Thomas Hanlon V; Amara, Kaleb, and Ethan Wheeler; Journey, Collin, Corbin, Evan, and Gannon Kern; and Maddie Hanlon.

Memorial contributions may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.