Mrs. Kathryn Kusske Floyd was born in St. Paul, Minn. Her parents were Doug and Margaret Kusske. She moved to the Washington, D.C., area at 18. She attended Georgetown University for undergraduate and the American University for her law degree. She was admitted to the DC, MD, and VA bar.
She was always dedicated to her family and supporting her friends and colleagues.
Kathryn passed away from Central Nervous System Lymphoma. She battled this cancer during this past year at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. Central Nervous System Lymphoma is a rare cancer that attacks the brain stem. Kathryn passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family.
She is survived by her husband, Chuck; daughters, Julia and Anna; stepdaughter, Lori; stepson, Charlie; grandsons, Marshall and Jake; brothers, David and Doug; and her dog, Nala.
Kathryn enjoyed yoga, tennis, biking, kayaking, boating, and walking on the beach. She also enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and Europe and loved exploring new restaurants wherever her travels took her. She was an advisor to family, friends, and colleagues on personal and business issues throughout her life.
Kathryn graduated from Georgetown and American Universities magna cum laude. Kathryn had a very successful legal career for over 30 years. She began her legal career at Clark Clifford. After she left Clark Clifford, she joined Mayer Brown and then Venable. She led a successful and impactful regulatory, environmental, and infrastructure practice. She focused on solving complex problems for leading companies in the transportation, mining, and commercial space industries. She was skilled at advising clients with their overall strategy, along with developing the scope, schedule, and budget to ensure projects were successful.
She was an expert with significant environmental and infrastructure projects that required coordination and consultation with federal and state governmental agencies. Several of her key clients were BNSF Railway, Unita Basin Railway, PolyMet Mining (now known as New Range Copper Nickel), Canadian Pacific Railway (now CPKC), Canaveral Port Authority, and SpaceX. Kathryn was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and has a pending case to determine an environmental review for the Unita Basin Railway.
Kathryn made a lasting and positive impact on her family, friends, clients, and legal colleagues. She will be missed by all who knew her since she helped so many people with proper guidance over her lifetime. God bless her.
A funeral service will be held from the graveside at Johnson’s United Methodist Church Cemetery, Johnsontown at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20.
