Kathy Marcom
Kathy Marcom, 67, of Breckenridge, passed away on December 22, 2024. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Monday, December 30, at Melton Kitchens Chapel of Memories with JB Sparks officiating. The family will welcome friends for a visitation at 1 p.m. on the same day as the funeral service.
Kathy was born on December 23, 1956, to Dorothy Morse and Jason J. Morse in Dallas, Texas. She lived her early years in the DFW area, before moving to Breckenridge, Texas, for her freshman year in high school. Living 15 miles from town, she thought her social life had ended, but it was just beginning.
Kathy graduated from Breckenridge High School in 1974; she then attended Cisco College and Tarlton University. She met and fell in love with a Breckenridge Buckaroo Football Player and became Mrs. Johnny Spencer. She was excited at the birth of their first son Jacob Wayne Spencer. Two years later, the excited couple would welcome their second son, Seth Matthew Spencer.
Kathy would confront the challenges of the ’90s, head-on. She divorced; then her father, Jason J. Morse, passed away in 1993, and her brother, Kenneth Wayne Morse, passed away in 1996. She stepped up to the challenge of moving near her mother, Dorothy Morse, but again, she lived miles from town.
In 1997, her life changed dramatically again, she was working for the Breckenridge ISD Food Service Program. She was responsible for enrolling children in the free and reduced lunch program, where Kathy found her calling.
In the spring of 1997, Kathy and her mother were eating lunch at the Anchor Drive-in, and Dorothy introduced her to a man who was having lunch in the restaurant. Dorothy then invited the man for dinner that night and told him that Kathy was single and that she would be there for dinner. The man accepted the invitation, and a romance was born. Later that year, Kathy became Mrs. Jay Marcom. She returned to school and obtained a degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas.
Kathy’s love of children followed her for the rest of her life. After leaving the BISD, Kathy discovered that some children enrolled in BISD were “homeless” children. She took it upon herself to ensure that each of these children had a Christmas. Armed with a list that only included the grade level, Boy or Girl, and number of students, she would set out on a mission to ensure that every one of the students had 10 gifts for Christmas.
There were about 20 students in the first year, but 12 years later, there were over 100. Kathy would sit for hours on the living room floor and hand-wrap every gift. In the early years, she would request paper sacks from Ray’s Grocery, but in later years, she gladly accepted hundreds of sacks from United Supermarkets.
It is impossible to estimate how many thousand gifts she wrapped over the years, and the only requirement was that she would remain the “SECRET SANTA.” Kathy never knew the names of the many lives she touched in Breckenridge, and they never knew her name.
She was preceded in death by her father, Jason J. Morse; her mother, Dorothy Morse; and her brother, Kenneth Wayne Morse.
She is survived by her husband, Jay Marcom; sons Jacob Wayne Spencer and Seth Matthew Spencer; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Condolences may be made at meltonkitchens.com. Memorials in Kathy’s honor can be made to Secret Santas in Breckenridge and can be left at the Melton Kitchens Funeral Home.
