Kathryn J. Williams

Services honoring the life of Kathryn Williams will be held at Merle Hay Funeral Home, 4400 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines, IA 50310, on Friday, July 17.

Family and friends are invited to gather for a visitation beginning at 11:00 a.m., followed by the funeral service at 12:00 p.m.

Following the service, Kathryn will be laid to rest at Chapel Hill Gardens Cemetery. After the committal service, all are warmly invited to return to Merle Hay Funeral Home for a repast and a time of fellowship and remembrance.

Kathryn Jean Williams was born Kathryn Eugina Floyd, to Percy Floyd and Corine (Smith) Floyd, on December 16, 1938, in Natchez, Mississippi. Kathryn’s family were share croppers, and relocated to Tensas Parish, Louisiana for more opportunities. Kathryn married Robert Mosby and moved to Des Moines, IA where she raised seven children. 

Kathryn was an avid learner. She received her primary education from the Tensas Parish School District.  Kathryn continued her education after moving to Iowa, at Des Moines Area Community College, where she earned accreditation as a Teaching Assistant and Nursing Aide. While Kathryn worked in healthcare, she also had an entrepreneurial spirit, which she combined with her exceptional skill in cooking, to start multiple restaurants. Kathryn owned four dining establishments that catered to thousands in the Des Moines area: Kathryn’s, Kat’s Soul Food, Hope’s Food and Fun, and Ken-Bo-Dills, all of which specialized in southern cuisine.

Kathryn possessed an exuberant and witty personality. She led a vibrant social life, known for hosting the best cocktail parties, in the city. There, she sang beautiful melodies, flaunted the latest fashions, and met her 2nd husband, Donald Williams. Later in life, she enjoyed baking, decorating, sewing, fishing, as well as recounting her many adventures, with best friend, and “partner in crime”, Barbara Sue Williams. She also imparted her cooking skills, appreciation of music, vast wisdom, and deep love & devotion for Christ, to her children, family, and friends.

On the morning of July 7, 2026, at the Kavanagh House, in Des Moines, Kathryn Williams transcended this realm. Mrs. Williams is preceded in death by parents: Father Percy Floyd and Mother Corine (Smith) Fleming, siblings: Iznes Banks, Mary Chatman Ware, Eloise Brady, Margurite Williams, Ella Holloway, Harriet Floyd, and Charles Floyd, sons Gregory Mosby and Jimmy Mosby, and grandchildren Pierre Williams and Kathryn Mosby. Her legacy lives on through her five children: Robert Mosby, Kenneth Mosby, Tina (Mosby) King, Kimberly (Mosby) Spain, and Hope (Booker) Dunn, eighteen grandchildren, including her caretaker, Jamie Alena-Jean Alexander, twenty-two great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren. Kathryn Williams' life is a testament to resilience, strength, and faith, and she left an indelible mark on all she's touched.