Katie (Songbird) is a ‘seasoned’ Gerry Butler fan, having first discovered him in late 2000, when she spotted him on television in a preview for the premiere of USA Network’s miniseries “Attila”. Intrigued by his beautiful eyes, she waited in growing anticipation for the showing of “Attila”. In the meantime, Katie’s best friend since both were 12 years old, Valerie, suggested they see the movie “Dracula 2000” since Valerie knew that the same actor in “Attila” was Dracula in the movie! Watching “Dracula 2000” on the big screen, Katie couldn’t believe this was the same man, but she definitely saw and felt Gerard’s screen presence and really liked the Judas spin that was put on the familiar story. The rest as they say is history. After the frenzy of “Attila”, Katie joined several online Yahoo groups dedicated to Gerard. At that time, there were no dedicated Gerry web sites available!
After resisting the Gerry obsession for a few years, Katie could no longer deny the urge when she discovered that Gerry would be portraying the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s movie version of the stage musical “The Phantom of the Opera” (again, thanks to Valerie). The waiting was nearly painful with nail-biting intensity and wavering doubt regarding Gerry’s singing ability (NO doubt about the acting talent!). After seeing Gerry in POTO, Katie solemnly swore, with Valerie as witness, “I will never doubt Gerry again.”
Katie’s been married to a wonderful and understanding man since June 22, 1985. Husband Wayne is a hard-working farmer who owns 400 acres, and raises corn, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, cattle, and pigs! Katie is a ‘modern farm wife’ with a public job as a legal secretary for a single practice law firm. She has worked a handful of varied jobs over the past 20 odd years, but all have a single common thread – customer service. Katie and Wayne have a lovely daughter, Devin, who was born in 1987. Devin attends a local community college, works part-time, helps out on the farm and continues to manage and produce her own herd of registered purebred Duroc hogs. She is the Top Junior Swine Producer of Registered Durocs in the US! Devin loves to sing and to ride her Paint Quarter Horse, Cheyenne.
In her spare time, Katie enjoys singing at church, in local theater musicals, and at various civic functions. She has sung annually for nearly 20 years in a local “Fabulous Fifties” show which raises money for the needs of local cancer patients, and is now a member of the committee that spends months in advance preparing the details of the show. One of Katie’s local ‘fans’ dubbed her with the name of “Songbird”, and happily, it has stuck. Katie believes that her job experience along with her natural ability of having ‘never met a stranger’ will certainly serve her well in her duties as a Moderator at GALS.