Mary Kathryn Garrison Bielawa

On the morning of Sunday, April 19, 2026, beloved mother and grandmother Mary Kathryn (Garrison) Bielawa passed peacefully away at the age of 91. Kathryn was born on August 10, 1934, to parents Allen Norton Garrison and Kathryn Glass Garrison. She was born in Lake Wales, Florida, in Lake Wales Hospital and graduated from Lake Wales High School in 1952. She attended Maryville College in Tennessee and graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After college, she worked as the Director of Christian Education at a Huntsville, Alabama Presbyterian Church.

She married Frank Bielawa in 1958 and later lived in England, New York, and Maryland, before returning to Lake Wales in 1975. She worked at Lake Wales Hospital and later at Winter Haven Hospital as a Medical Librarian. She was a lifetime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Wales where she was an active volunteer. After retirement, she enjoyed spending summers at her home in Franklin, NC where she was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, as well as traveling to Europe, the West Coast and Canada.

Kathryn was a member of the Tampa Bay Medical Network and The Florida Health Science Library Association. She was also a member of the Franklin Federated Women’s Club in Franklin, NC. In her retirement years, Kathryn volunteered her time at Bok Tower Gardens as well as Winter Haven Hospital’s Medical Library.

Kathryn will always be remembered for never leaving the house without her bright red lipstick, her lifelong love of cats, McDonald’s mocha frappe' and her dry sense of humor.

Kathryn was predeceased by her brother Allen Kenneth Garrison of Atlanta, Georgia. She is survived by her daughters Cynthia Bielawa Kitchin (Shawn Kitchin) and Susan Bielawa Cruze (Ray Cruze) as well as grandchildren Alice Remondi, Emile Remondi, Sarah Lazarus, Kyle Lazarus and Camille Lazarus.

Graveside service for family and friends will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2026 at the Lake Wales Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to the Lake Wales Care Center or the First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund.