Kathleen "Kathy" McOmber

Kathleen "Kathy" McOmber was a lifelong Colorado resident best known in her community as a librarian, a devoted mother and grandmother, and a woman whose love of books, sewing and quilting touched everyone around her. She was not a figure of national fame, and the record of her life comes from the obituary published by her family rather than from broader news coverage, but her death has been marked publicly through that obituary and is recorded here because people are searching for information about her.

McOmber was born on August 1, 1950, in Denver, Colorado, to Jack and Ellen Brady. She grew up in Colorado and went on to graduate from the University of Denver. Early in her working life she was employed at Manning Oil Company, a period during which she also supported her husband Gene McOmber's business. She later spent the bulk of her career at the Jefferson County Public Library, a job that suited a woman who read, by her family's account, more than 200 books a year and was rarely seen without one close at hand.

Outside of work, McOmber was known for her skill with a needle and thread. Her family recalled that she sewed her daughter's Halloween costumes by hand, made the family's Christmas stockings, stitched baby blankets for newly arrived relatives, and spent countless hours quilting, leaving behind quilts that her family says will keep her loved ones warm for years to come. These handmade gifts, more than any public achievement, are what her obituary highlights as her lasting legacy within her family and circle of friends.

McOmber was married to Gene McOmber for 27 years before his death; he predeceased her, as did her parents, her sister Jeannie Brittan, and her nephew Cody Brittan. She is survived by her daughter, Jackie Zinkgraf, Jackie's husband Adam, her granddaughters Zoey and Cora Zinkgraf, and a wider circle of nieces and nephews, along with her dog Dakota, described as a constant companion in her later years.

Kathleen McOmber died on September 24, 2026, in Littleton, Colorado, at the age of 76, after what her family described as a courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by family. Her obituary was published through All Veterans Funeral and Cremation in Centennial, Colorado, and notes that she will be remembered for her warmth, her devotion to her family, and the handmade things she left behind. No separate public tributes or statements from community organizations have been reported beyond the family's own obituary.