KATHLEEN ANTONIA (POIROT) GRIESEMER

Kathleen Antonia (Poirot) Griesemer, 86, passed away on Dec. 2, 2024. She was born in Carthage on July 20, 1938; the youngest child of Mary Frances Brady and Eugene Marcel Poirot,
She grew up in rural Lawrence County and graduated from Miller High School in 1955 as valedictorian and homecoming queen. She attended Mt. Saint Scholastica (now Benedictine College) before transferring to Saint Louis University (SLU) where she met her future husband. In January 1959, she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and on Feb. 7, 1959, she married John Griesemer and they moved to Springfield where she lived the rest of her life. They were married for 34 years when he passed away in 1993.
She worked on the Greene County Library Bookmobile and taught sixth grade at Immaculate Conception School (IC) before retiring to raise their children.  She served as den mother for her son’s Cub Scout troop, was IC Home and School president, and led the Saint Agnes School Great Books program, among many other volunteer activities at Holy Trinity Catholic Church. She also was a longtime member of The Daughters of Saint Francis de Sales.
Soon after John’s passing she joined his company, Springfield Underground (Erlen Group), as chair of the Board of Directors serving until 2008.
In 1994, she obtained a Doctorate of Psychology from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology and practiced as a licensed therapist assisting patients experiencing chronic pain.
In 2004, she remarried James C “Jim” Hutchison of Springfield. 
She is survived by her second husband, Jim; 10 grandchildren; her sister, Julia Thoma; several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law; numerous cousins, nieces and nephews; Jim’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and many friends.
She was preceded in death by her first husband, John; her brother, Severin Poirot; and her sister, Joan Krautmann.
Visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26, with Rosary to follow at 6 p.m. at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home in Springfield. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 27, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Springfield.