Kathy Velazco
Georgia Flying Belles Chapter
Dr. Antenor “Andy” Velazco, MD., 73, and Dr. Kathleen “Kathy” Hartney-Velazco, MD., M.M.SC., 65, died June 16th, 2021, in a private plane crash near Centennial, Colorado. Mali, their faithful 2-year-old Belgium Malinois, was also killed in the crash.
Kathy— wife, mother, boss doc, entrepreneur, fashionista, runner, athlete, all-around badass.
Kathy was born September 11, 1955, in Bethesda, Maryland, to Dr. Thomas and Georgia Hartney. Her father was a physician in the U.S. Navy who retired to Tampa, Florida, in 1967. Kathy’s love of water sports grew from water-skiing on Lake Carroll.
Kathy came to Atlanta in 1973 to attend Emory University. She graduated college in 1978, Magna cum Laude with a B.S. in Chemistry. She initially worked as a Computer Programmer in Emory’s Data Processing Department. In 1978, she earned her Master of Medical Science with a specialty in Anesthesia from Emory.
Following her Master’s, Kathy worked full-time as an anesthetist at Grady Memorial Hospital. Never one to rest on her laurels, in 1981 she matriculated to the Emory University School of Medicine. While in medical school, she worked as a Physician’s Assistant in Anesthesia and was on the Emory Faculty from 1981-82. She married Andy in 1982, and gave birth to her first daughter, Kari Dyan, in 1984. Also in 1984, Andy and Kathy bought a land lot on Lake Spivey and began building their forever home. It became the site of many great parties and family gatherings, creating wonderful memories for multitudes of people over many years.
Kathy received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1985 from Emory University while pregnant with her second daughter, Katie Dawn. Kathy specialized in Outpatient Surgery Anesthesia and Pain Management during a fellowship year. Always multitasking, Kathy gave birth to Alec Bryant in 1988 and completed her residency in Anesthesiology in 1989. She worked as an anesthesiologist at South Fulton Medical Center in Atlanta for the next four years.
In 1993, Kathy founded Capitol Anesthesiology, P.C., to meet the needs of the ambulatory surgery patient (forming companies when she saw an unmet need became her forte). In 1996, Kathy was recruited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and became a surveyor in their ambulatory division.
Over the next several decades, Kathy was affiliated with multiple medical and surgery centers across Georgia. When asked if she ever planned to retire, her immediate answer was: “Nope.” She loved what she did, and she excelled in every endeavor.
While Kathy joined Andy on many of his races, she also had her own passions. She was an avid tennis player until her tennis elbow forced her to tackle another sport. Being a business owner, Kathy took up golf as she knew many business relationships happen on the golf course. As she always strove for perfection, she began reading all she could, took lessons, was often found at the golf range, and eventually played at over 50 courses around the country.
Andy and Kathy’s next pursuit took them off the ground. Andy had always been fascinated with flight. When he told Kathy he wanted to learn how to fly, she started working towards her pilot license also. She had grown up watching the Blue Angels with her family and had herself been interested in pursuing a career as a pilot from a young age. Over the next 13 years, they spent countless hours in the air. Andy loved the challenge of flying, and Kathy loved visiting more people and places. They each attained various levels of airplane and instrument ratings. Never one to stop at mid-level, Kathy was in the process of getting her commercial pilot license.
Kathy had a magnetic personality and loved fiercely. Kathy could light up a room with her smile and vivacious personality. She drew people to her and had an infectious laugh. She treated everyone around her the same, regardless of their walk of life. Her fashion sense and passion for Louis Vuitton became the stuff of legends, as she almost always wore an LV purse with a matching belt and shoes. In her honor, Louis Vuitton’s Lenox Mall store threw her a 50th birthday party! She was known for her generosity and always wanted to share everything she had, including Peloton bikes, with the people she loved.
Their lives were interrupted and left unfinished. Andy had just started a hobby of woodworking and was reading a book about how to grow bonsai trees. Kathy was planning their next trips to visit more family and was so excited about her future grandchildren.
