Kathleen Lillian (Bowen) John, 53, of Lovettsville, Loudon County, Virginia, died Wednesday, January 1 after a many-month battle with cancer. Best friend and bride of Capt. Michael W. John, U.S. Navy (ret), she had a passion for teaching and interpreting history. Known as "Kate" to her beloved friends in Virginia and heart-friends in the many other locations where she had lived over the years, Kate was a member of the Gray Ghost Interpretive Group and worked at Oatlands as a guide and program developer. Born in April 1960 in Pittsburgh, Pa., Kate was the daughter of the late Dr. Charles P. and Anne L. Bowen and was surrounded and embraced in life by her beloved brothers and sisters—Michael C. Bowen, Mary Ann Seacrist, Charles P. Bowen, Richard J. Bowen, and Jean Rose Shumovich. A distinguished graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, besides her love of history Kate was an avid reader of mysteries and crime novels, world traveler, antique hunter, Steelers fan, and lover of animals large and small. She also was devoted to her stepchildren, Justin (Washington, D.C.) and Jessica Weston (Boise, Id.).