Kathy Krabbenschmidt: Designed golf course in Grand Prairie

12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
jsimnacher@dallasnews.com

Kathy Krabbenschmidt had been a Hollywood magician, a champion pool player and a hand model before she designed and built her 17-hole, par-3 golf course in Grand Prairie.

Although she had made a living at a variety of jobs, Ms. Krabbenschmidt had a passion for architecture and art, which she was able to express in her golf course design.

"She loved architecture and art in general," said her daughter, Angel Adamson of Grand Prairie.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt, 56, died April 27 at her Grand Prairie home of complications of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often called Lou Gehrig's disease.

A memorial service will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Fun City Golf Center, her Grand Prairie golf course.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt was earning a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington when she became ill about five years ago.

In August 2005, she was diagnosed with ALS.

"She had been sick for a year and a half before that, but she didn't know what she had," Ms. Adamson said.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt used a walker to attend her last year of classes and graduate, her daughter said.

She was born in Orange County, Calif., but grew up in Japan and San Francisco, traveling with her father's transfers as a Navy engineer.

She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from San Francisco State University.

She married Howard Adamson and became a blackjack dealer in Lake Tahoe for four years.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt then moved to Los Angeles, where she became a magician.

She performed at the Magic Castle, a magicians' gathering place, and private parties, her daughter said.

"She was a hand-and-card specialist, what's called sleight of hand," her daughter said. "Within five years, she was actually one of the top magicians in Hollywood.

"She performed at Oscar parties and many other Hollywood events," her daughter said.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt had also worked as a hand model and did hand shots that included the television series Dallas.

Ms. Krabbenschmidt's hands were also used in commercials, including the "Incredible Edible Egg" promotion.

"It's back out," Ms. Adamson said of the commercial. "There are the two hands holding the egg; that's her hands."

Ms. Krabbenschmidt divorced in 1975.

She became a touring pool player before moving to Grand Prairie in 1988 to take over her brother's video store, Rent-A-Movie, in Town Square on Pioneer Parkway, a retail development her father had built.

While she was running the video store, Ms. Krabbenschmidt began designing and building the golf course on her father's property on Interstate 20.

"She designed and built it herself," her daughter said. "She was hands-on in building that golf course."

Ms. Krabbenschmidt served on the Grand Prairie Planning and Zoning Commission for several years.

In addition to her daughter, Ms. Krabbenschmidt is survived by two sisters, Lisa Evik of Burbank, Calif., and Janeen Jensen of Del Mar, Calif.; two brothers, Jon Krabbenschmidt of San Mateo, Calif., and Dale Krabbenschmidt of San Diego; her parents Henry and Pegeen Krabbenschmidt of Hillsboro, Calif., and one grandchild.

Memorials may be made to a college-expense trust for her grandson, Henry Jacob Adamson at Wells Fargo Bank.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.462b0c2.html