By Jenny Dolan, La Crosse Tribune

(Editor’s Note: Kathy (Sullivan) Sebranek grew up in Minnesota and found employment in La Crosse, Wisconsin with the Wisconsin Bureau for the Blind. I knew her as a friend and dedicated Federationist for 35 years.  Even after moving to Wisconsin and helping create the NFB of Wisconsin, she maintained her membership in the NFB of Minnesota. She and Larry were regular attendees at our conventions. Her friendship, dedication, and commitment were outstanding examples for all of us. I, Joyce, and many others will certainly miss her. This article was published in the La Crosse Tribune on January 24, 2006).

Larry Sebranek met his wife, Kathleen, after he went blind.

Sebranek was a dairy farmer in Hillsboro, Wis. when a hereditary disease blinded him. Sebranek gave up farming and moved to town.

A rehabilitation counselor visited him, helping him adjust. She, too, was blind. Sebranek had never met another blind person. He wasn't sure what blind people could or could not do.

"You should learn Braille," the counselor, Kathleen, told him.

"You're kidding me," Sebranek said. "These farmer hands couldn't feel Braille if they were spikes."

Sebranek liked this woman. He wanted to impress her. Six weeks later, Sebranek had mastered grade-two Braille.

Five years later, Sebranek married Kathleen. Like hundreds of others, he benefited from her empowering message: blindness is a challenge to overcome, not an excuse to fall back on.

Kathleen, who for 32 years worked for the Wisconsin Bureau for the Blind, died unexpectedly on January 14, possibly from a pulmonary embolism.

She spent most of her life visiting the visually impaired at their homes, convincing them that they could be independent.

She would arrive in a state car packed full of magnifiers, white canes and special lamps.

Some people put up a fight, Larry said. They assured Kathleen that their children or their spouse would take care of them. Their spouse would pay the bills, do the banking, shop for groceries.

"What if your wife drops dead tomorrow?" Kathleen would say.

She could be blunt, Larry said.

"She had the unique ability to make you feel good about yourself and also make you accountable," he said.

Kathleen went to Washington D.C. 20 times, Larry estimates. She lobbied for better treatment and programs for the visually impaired. She often took Larry along.

"She didn't want people to become passive," Larry said. "I was her best project."