Kathy Ella Tobias

The world said goodbye to a beacon of peace, love, and light when Kathy Ella Tobias, 67, passed away peacefully on August 9, 2026 at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia surrounded by close friends and family. Following a two-year journey with pancreatic cancer that she approached with grace and fortitude, Kathy unexpectedly experienced medical complications related to her cancer treatment after the disease had recently been declared in remission. She is now jamming up above with one of her favorite musical heroes, Jerry Garcia, who passed on the same day 31 years ago.

Born on March 20, 1959 in Wiesbaden, Germany to Joseph and Nellie Tobias, Kathy grew up in Augusta, Georgia where she attended Butler High School. After graduating from Augusta College, Kathy went on to earn her master’s degree in education and dedicated more than twenty years to teaching elementary school. Passionate about her career, Kathy impacted the lives of countless students through her commitment, enthusiasm, creativity, and sense of fun.

Kathy was always there for everyone and everything in need: her family, her friends, her students, animals, plants, and so on. She was everyone’s biggest advocate and selflessly stood in as a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, or whatever was necessary. Even during her biggest time of need, while navigating her own health challenges, Kathy continued to be there for others. She epitomized what it means to be a devoted, loyal family member, pet lover and friend, always with humor, generosity, and a full heart.

With drops of Jupiter in her hair…

Kathy’s love and light will continue through everyone and everything she touched. A self-proclaimed retired hippie (though did she ever really retire from that?) and tambourine player extraordinaire, her contagious zest for life as a music aficionado, gardener, artist, and lover of all other things that make life worth living will continue to flourish within all of us.

Kathy is survived by her husband of thirty years, Robert “Bob” Wilcox; brother Tim Tobias; sister-in-law Emilie Tobias; nephews Joey “Toby” Tobias (Tana Rollins) and Brandon Tobias (Scott Saufferer); niece Ashton Johnson (Brett); grandnephews and grandnieces; feline companion Meadow; extended family in Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, and California; and a community of devoted friends whom she considered family.

Kathy was preceded in death by her parents Joseph Peter Tobias and Nellie Grace (Taylor) Tobias and her brother Joseph Michael Tobias.

She was born in the sign of water…

Per her wishes, Kathy’s ashes will be scattered by close family and friends off the coast of Maine, one of her favorite places in the world.

A celebration of life will be held in Augusta, Georgia in the fall with additional details to come.

Kathy’s mother Nellie also passed away after a courageous journey with pancreatic cancer in 2004. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations in Kathy’s memory be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan) online at pancan.org/donate or through the mail at 2101 Rosecrans Ave, Suite 3200, El Segundo, CA 90245.