Kathryn Kittides

Kathryn Kittides is survived by her sons Chris Kittides and Jack Kittides. 

Dr. Kathryne Zelevsky Kittides

Scholar, Linguist, Educator, Humanitarian

IN MEMORIAM

The world has lost a luminous spirit in Dr. Kathryne Zelevsky Kittides—"Dr. Kitty" to those blessed to know her—an extraordinary woman whose brilliance was matched only by her boundless love of humanity.

Dr. Kitty was a scholar in the truest sense: a linguist whose mastery spanned Russian, French, Ukrainian, Greek, and the liturgical languages of the Orthodox Christian tradition. But she was far more than a polyglot. She understood languages as living chronicles of human civilization, tracing root words and borrowings across continents and millennia—from the Urals to the Levant, from the Ganges to the Tigris, from the Yangtze to the Himalayas. Steeped in Byzantine culture and civilization, she developed linguistic theories that archaeological discoveries would later confirm. She saw patterns that others missed, connections that illuminated our shared human story.

Her intellectual gifts were formidable: historian, political scientist, patron of the arts, with knowledge that ranged from geopolitics to paleoanthropology. She moved with equal grace through discussions of ancient civilizations and contemporary international relations. Her voice, once of operatic quality, reflected her deep love of music, opera, ballet, and folkloric dance from around the world. She was as at home with the cultures of Greece and Cyprus as with her Ukrainian homeland, embodying the multicultural richness she celebrated in others.

But Dr. Kitty's true genius lay in how she shared her knowledge. As a teacher of Russian language and history, World and Ancient History, and Political Science at Birmingham's Groves High School, she brought a special methodology to foreign and second language instruction that transformed students' understanding not just of languages, but of the world itself. She taught future teachers at Central Michigan University and international business majors at the prestigious Walsh College in Troy, Michigan. Once recruited to serve in the U.S. Department of State, she instead chose the classroom, where her impact multiplied through three generations of students and educators.

Her teaching was suffused with the joy of a true educator—transcending differences, embracing students with total acceptance, confidence in their possibilities, and unwavering support for their future successes. Whether guiding foreign students from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Bosnia, or offering career counsel to young people in her classes, she gave each person the gift of being truly seen and valued. And thanks to the internet, her students regularly reached out to her from across those many years and countries of the world, to reminisce and to thank her for her guidance and for her help. It was not uncommon to arrive at her home where she was helping her former high school students complete applications for law school or graduate studies, or to polish their research, sometimes well into the wee hours! There was no request that she turned away no matter her physical challenges, no matter the time. She was there for her students, her friends and her dear family.

Dr. Kitty was a founding member of the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit's Foundation, which she supported for nearly two decades. She understood that Detroit's 108+ cultures and nearly as many languages represented not challenges to be managed, but treasures to be conserved and celebrated. Her commitment to preserving cultural and linguistic histories was both scholarly and deeply personal.

This sparkling, vivacious spirit reached out to everyone—from new Americans finding their way in a new land, to the homeless, to fellow scholars. Her love of humanity was, in the words of a dear friend and colleague, "boundless and borderless." She lived what she taught: that our differences connect us, that our languages tell the story of our shared journey, that every person carries dignity and possibility.

Dr. Kitty embodied a vision of the world where borders dissolve in the face of genuine human connection, where linguistic diversity is celebrated as the map of human civilization, where scholarship serves compassion, and where teaching is an act of love.

She leaves behind not just a legacy of scholarly insight and pedagogical innovation, but thousands of students whose lives were transformed by her knowledge, her joy, and her unforgettable belief in their potential. She leaves colleagues who were enriched by her brilliance and partnership. She leaves a world that is dimmer without her light, but better for having known it.

Dr. Kathryne Zelevsky Kittides:

Unforgettable,

Beautiful,

Talented,

Brilliant,

Compassionate—

and Deeply, Deeply Loved.

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