Kay Cauthorn

Kay Cauthorn Read, 82, of Chico, Texas, died peacefully on July 23, 2026, in Bridgeport, Texas, leaving behind a life measured in family, friends, joy, and love.

Born March 3, 1944, in San Antonio, Kay was the first child of Mary Julia “Jerry” Loughborough Cauthorn and Albert Russel Cauthorn. She grew up on a sheep-and-goat ranch between Del Rio and Brackettville, a landscape shaped by her father’s family—one of Texas’s founding sheep-ranching clans. Her father, as a 29-year-old state legislator, helped negotiate the sale of the land that became Big Bend National Park. Her great-grandfather, Colonel Robert Henry Rose Loughborough, retired as Commandant of Fort Bliss; her grandfather, William Baldridge Loughborough, surveyed the Zamboanga Bridge in the Philippines and served as the last president of USAA before transforming into a mutual company.

Elementary school took her from Del Rio to Saltillo, Coahuila, and The Calvert School. She graduated from Brackettville High School in 1962. Dyslexia never slowed her down; she earned her degree from the University of Dallas in 1985, and later completed an MS from East Texas State University while working as a therapist, and later became a Mensa member.

In 1962, she married Robert Earl Davenport. Together they raised three sons: Russell Earl (1964), Robert Claiborne (1968), and Roger Sidney (1973). Later she found a patient and steady husband in Jim Read, who survives her.

Professionally, Kay Cauthorn, MS, LCDC, CADAC, NCAC, spent more than thirty years as a licensed addiction and substance-use-disorder counselor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She specialized in counseling and interventions and helped countless people reclaim joy and sobriety. Clients and colleagues still talk about the excellent Mexican meals she cooked for group therapy—and the Sunday leftovers at the Whitehouse group.

She is survived by her husband, Jim Read; her three sons and five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; her sister, Julia Cauthorn; Jim’s two sons, James (Kelly) Read and Kyle Read; and her nephew, Will Sommers.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, 2026, at Hawkins Funeral Home Chapel in Bridgeport, Texas, with burial to follow at Crafton-Norwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, consider a quiet reflection on second chances, a fluffy kitten, a plate of good Mexican food, or simply looking up the next time a rainbow appears. Kay would have liked that.

Hawkins Funeral Home Bridgeport

940-683-2211

www.hawkinsfuneralhome.com