On November 12, 2022, Katherine Marie (Kat) Hitchcock of Loudoun County, Virginia, died from glioblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of primary brain cancer. She was 56 years young. Kat was a loving wife, nurturing mother, dedicated military spouse, accomplished university professor, and the consummate college administrator. Her special blend of wit, wisdom, wonder, and work ethic was unique; she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

Kat was born in Beaufort, South Carolina to Bruce and Gay Burrows. Growing up mostly in Northern Virginia, she attended Blue Ridge Middle School and Loudoun Valley High School before graduating from Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado. Kat went on to earn her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Colorado and a Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland.

She married David Michael Hitchcock, a US Marine aviator, in Pensacola, Florida. Kat selflessly and skillfully navigated more than 18 years as a Marine spouse. Their journey included nine moves, four deployments, three years living in Japan, and two combat tours. Along the way, they were blessed with Sarah Marie, born in Jacksonville, Florida, and James Bruce (Jake), born in the same Naval Hospital as Kat in Beaufort, and two dogs and two stray cats.

During David’s time in service, Kat worked and volunteered extensively before finally returning to her passion for education as an award-winning adjunct instructor for the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), While with UMGC, she did pioneer work as one of the University’s earliest online instructors. Kat eventually added an online administrator role with UMGC to her instructional duties while also returning to school to complete her doctoral studies. Showing off her brilliance as a multi-tasker, she defended her dissertation and earned her terminal degree, all while solo parenting a teenager, a preteen, and two dogs during David’s final combat deployment in 2008.

After earning her Ph.D., she was promoted to Professor at UMGC and served in series of administrative roles for Maryland, George Mason University, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), and then Northeastern University. In 2016 Kat rejoined NOVA as the Dean of Language Arts and Social Sciences at NOVA’s Loudoun Campus. She excelled in this leadership role by skillfully, tirelessly, and compassionately serving her faculty, staff, and students. Kat begrudgingly retired from this role in 2021 after her cancer diagnosis to focus on her treatment, and to spend more time with family and friends.

Kat was a talented pianist and vocalist who was passionate about music. She was an avid runner, regularly logging over 500 miles per year. Kat and David shared their home with their latest menagerie of pets, two wonderful dogs and a (somewhat) tolerant cat. She enjoyed lazy summer evenings floating in the swimming pool, attending live sporting events, fly fishing with David, hiking on the nearby portions of the Appalachian Trail, travelling with her family, and most recently, exploring the wonders and beauty of Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

Kat is survived by her husband David, daughter Sarah and son Jake, both of San Francisco, California, father and mother Bruce and Gay Burrows of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, sister Emily Burrows of Boulder, Colorado, and many, many loving aunts, uncles, in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and colleagues.

Education was her passion - she was deeply committed to the community college mission, NOVA’s especially. Therefore, the family has funded an endowment that will provide for cash awards in her name to highly deserving NOVA students each academic year. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you honor Kat’s memory with a donation to the NOVA Educational Foundation (https://giving.nvcc.edu/ or visit the Memorial Gifts page of this website for a link) and designate your gift in support of the “Katherine Hitchcock SEAL Awards.”

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