Katherine Ann Bertsch Compagno

The magnificent Katherine Ann Bertsch Compagno (‘Kathy’) was born on 7 December 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri at Jewish Hospital (now called Barnes-Jewish Hospital of Washington University) to her beloved mother Olga Mary (nèe Wolverson) and father Hugh Cecil Bertsch and their warm and happy home. She attended nearby Buder Elementary School until her mother’s devastating death on Mother’s Day 1954, when Kathy was seven years old. Kathy and her older brother Hans were then sent to live with her paternal grandparents William and Rose Lorenz Bertsch in Stockton, California. She attended Grover Cleveland Elementary School and Stockton Junior High. In the summer of 1961, they moved to the Sunset District of San Francisco, California, where Kathy spent her weekends enjoying the art and science museums in nearby Golden Gate Park.

Kathy attended Polytechnic High School, graduating in June 1964 as a standout student. She lettered in fencing and received many scholarship honors. These included a National Merit Scholarship and other awards from Bank of America, Crocker Bank, and the United Nations Association. She also received the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow Award (and was one of ten finalists in the entire state of California). Most notably, she received the inaugural Presidential Scholar Award. President Lyndon B. Johnson presented her with the award in the East Room of the White House, with her father Hugh and grandmother Rose attending as honored guests. One of 121 first-ever “Presidential Scholars,” she was the only female student selected from California. The scholars were chosen out of the entire country for superior academic attainment and potential and notified via wire from LBJ: I am today naming you a Presidential Scholar and am inviting you to meet with me at the White House at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10 [1964]. You are a fine representative of the outstanding secondary school graduates of our nation, and Mrs. Johnson joins me in extending our warmest congratulations to you and your family. As reported by the News-Call Bulletin, Kathy declared “I’ll treasure this all my life.” She had a special pride in receiving the combination of the superior academic and homemaker awards, later telling her daughters, “It meant I could do both.”

Kathy then attended Santa Clara University. (Her SAT score was one question short of perfect, a discrepancy she maintained was an error on their end.) She graduated in June 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry summa cum laude. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was her graduation keynote speaker. On graduation day, then-University President Patrick A. Donohoe approached Kathy and her father and grandparents, telling them she was the smartest person graduating that day and maybe the smartest person who had ever graduated Santa Clara. Kathy enjoyed her college years, both for her newfound independence and the academic challenges. She was a member of the Honors Tutorial Program, studying literature and philosophy classics and theology. Most afternoons were spent in various physics and chemistry laboratories conducting experiments; as Kathy laughed, “Fortunately other students usually managed to douse my inadvertent conflagrations!” Of the audits Kathy enjoyed outside her chemistry curriculum, she especially enjoyed Dr. Sullwold’s course in Classical Mythology, and was moved by his experience during WWII when he taught Chaucer to his fellow prisoners of war in Japan.

Kathy married a fellow Santa Clara student, John Compagno, on 22 June 1968 at St. Brigid’s Church in San Francisco. That fall, they moved to St. Louis as John entered his second year of medical school at St. Louis University, enabling her to enjoy regular family gatherings with her dear father and relatives. She worked for three years as Head Laboratory Research Technician with Dr. Robert E. Olson, longtime Chairman of St. Louis University School of Medicine Biochemistry Department, continuing the work of Dr. Edward Doisy, who had received the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work at St. Louis University establishing the chemical nature of Vitamin K. Kathy’s “able technical assistance” was acknowledged in many scientific articles such as “Reversal by Vitamin K of Cycloheximide Inhibited Biosynthesis of Prothrombin in the Isolated Perfused Rat Liver.”

When John graduated cum laude from medical school, Kathy resigned her position at the medical school and worked briefly parttime as a Printer’s and Publisher’s Assistant at Archway Press with her Uncle Ray (her late mother’s brother), before moving to the St. Louis suburb of Glendale. She joined the Kirkwood Area League of Women Voters, serving on their Board of Directors as Chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee.

On 19 December 1972, Kathy became a mother. Natalie Jeanne was born in the same hospital as Kathy had been born 26 years prior. Two years later, the family moved to Silver Springs, Maryland, and in July 1975, John joined the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, serving at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology as a pathologist.

On 1 June 1976, Kathy and John welcomed their “Bicentennial Baby” Julietta Marie, born at Bethesda Naval Hospital. The following year, Kathy returned to her academic pursuits, attending the University of Maryland and earning a Master’s Degree by the College of Library and Information Sciences, specializing in medical, science and technical libraries and writing her 50-page thesis on “Medical Library Resources in the specialty of Pathology.” She subsequently passed the Medical Library Association’s examination for “Provisional Certification in Health Sciences Librarianship.”

The family then moved to Castro Valley, California. While visiting her family along the way, Kathy realized her maternal grandmother’s historic family photo album had no names or dates; thus began her lifelong quest to recapture the family history that had been lost. After almost 25 years, thanks to her characteristic diligence gathering oral history and letters, and searching library archives, she succeeded in restoring every missing detail in that precious album.

Kathy welcomed her youngest daughter Emily Rose on 9 November 1979, born at the Oak Knoll Naval Regional Medical Center in Oakland, California. Thus began Kathy’s greatest joy: Raising her three girls.

In March 1982 Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread to ten lymph nodes. Undergoing a radical double mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy, radiation, and tamoxifen, Kathy became too ill to care for her girls. Due to John’s imminent planned discharge from the U.S. Navy and a prior accepted position in Illinois, the family moved to Decatur, Illinois. Kathy continued her cancer treatments, with many loving hearts in the family and in the community (including those that moved in and lived with the family during that time, like Jenny, Mary Rose, and Emma) stepping in to help care for the children and home. In later years, if someone would downplay being a housewife, Kathy would respond “We had to hire four women to do what one housewife does!”

Kathy earned her next title of Brave Survivor, against all medical odds and despite the terminal prognosis (and eventually outliving the oncologist). Her survival was her family’s miracle. Birthdays and holidays were milestones, and every day was celebrated as a gift. Once again, the family moved cross country, driving into California on New Year’s Day 1984, a symbolic new beginning for the young family.

As Kathy’s health was restored, she became a PTA (Parent-Teachers’ Association) volunteer at her daughters’ school Madera Elementary, eventually completing over seven years managing the school library. In March 1989, Kathy received Madera’s Honorary Service Award in recognition of her work “giving hundreds of volunteer hours in Madera’s library and classrooms. Quietly and unassumingly, she has worked and managed our library for many years. Our library is possibly one of the finest elementary school libraries in the Richmond Unified School District. This is in large part due to the efforts and dedication of Kathy Compagno.”

She served for four years on the Contra Costa County Library Commission, which was named “Volunteer Group of the Year” in 1992, thanks in large part to her contributions. She served as a college counselor for seven years at El Cerrito High School where her daughters attended, helping and encouraging scores of children dream of and attain higher education.

Kathy delighted in and mastered a wide variety of enthusiasms, including bird watching, photography, and needlework. Her bird photography was spectacular and award-winning, among her favorites (and ours) the burrowing owl, tufted puffin, Skagit Valley snow geese, frigatebird, eagle, penguin (all species), hummingbird, and the snowy owl. She was gifted with a needle and thread (and yarn and knitting needles), sewing her own beautiful clothes and outfitting countless dolls and Barbies for her thrilled daughters. She devoted untold hours crocheting exquisite afghans and stitching needlepoint designs, all reflecting stories of the family and meticulously designed. These cherished heirlooms kept her family warm and surrounded by her love, and will for generations to come.

The impact and importance of Kathy’s genealogic contributions cannot be overstated, what she called her “family history projects.” She collected oral histories, ‘olde’ photographs, and archived history in real time by faithfully photographing every family gathering and sharing complete albums for all family members. Kathy researched centuries of old records, with her father’s initial help teaching her to read old German script and sharing the history he had collected, successfully painting a whole portrait of her English, Swabian, and Bohemian ancestry and her daughters’ Sicilian forebears. Far beyond what most could ever manage or envision, Kathy found ‘lost’ cousins, discovered new branches, collected thousands of old photographs, and traveled on many “roots trips” to walk in the footsteps of her family and serve as witness and archivist for family stories and legacies. Her home was adorned with priceless family artifacts and records like citizenship certificates and military honors, wedding photos and heirloom crafts. Each and all of this she shared with family and the world, from scanned photographs and individualized stories to publishing multiple family history books (with multiple volumes) that are priceless in value: Bertsch, Wolverson, Lorenz, Schaaf, Kraft, Bileci, Viola, and Buffa. The family cherishes every one of these colossal labors of love, each page representing her fastidious dedication and a remarkable selflessness.

She served as the Italian Specialist at the Oakland Family History Center, blessing many families with the gift of knowing their history and stories, and contributing to many published books, always credited and thanked in the respective acknowledgments. Kathy was the unequaled Polytechnic High School Historian. She illuminated the school’s history with her methodical research, strengthened its future with her financial generosity, and shone as one of the brightest minds in the school’s - and city’s - history. She will remain revered, loved, and missed by her fellow alumni, many colleagues, and fellow researchers, with whom she forged deep and lasting friendships.

When a child is born so is a grandmother, and Kathy became Grammy on 12 February 2009 with the birth of Josephine Harper. Thus began Kathy’s sacred next chapter, deepening with the birth of Violet Avery on 9 March 2012, and complete with Leona Evelyn’s arrival on 23 May 2017. Her “grands” were her sweetest joy, and she lovingly moved to the Pacific Northwest to help care for them. Grammy was the matriarch of her precious pod, leading them with unwavering love and a generous heart, and inspiring constant education. “Never stop learning,” she would always say.

Her adventurous and courageous spirit and her love of the wider world shaped these years profoundly. An intrepid and brave explorer, Kathy journeyed all over the world, with dear friends and family and also solo - including voyaging to Antarctica twice - absorbing every bit of knowledge about the environment, wildlife, peoples, traditions, history, and above all, the birds. Her cousins were her sisterhood, and she treasured her time with Patty, Judy, and Nancy. Throughout her life, she road tripped across the country and roamed national parks with a naturalist’s wonder, instilling in her daughters and granddaughters a deep reverence for public lands and the great outdoors. Together, they created a lifetime of memories, wandering - though never lost - through the breathtaking majesty of every place they discovered. Particularly special to Kathy and her family were their “eclipse chasing” trips, where Kathy took her pod to Hawaii, Tennessee, Argentina, and Indiana to witness that spectacular phenomena; their many Alaska trips, reveling in the exhilarating glaciers, mountains, and surrounding wild beauty; and their whale watching trips, marveling at those glorious creatures in their natural habitat, with Kathy’s unparalleled photography recording all the magical moments even better than the eye could. These collection of experiences and memories wove a tapestry of shared wonder and awe, of love for family and the earth, and a deep gratitude for how irreplaceable “together time” is.

Kathy’s life was woven with traditions, always meaningful no matter small or grand, that she lovingly created and carried forward with her daughters, granddaughters, family, and friends. Her annual family trips - to Yosemite, the San Juan Islands, Pacific Grove, the Skagit Valley, up and down the West Coast and more - were the family’s favorite adventures. Kathy began every morning with her English tea (with milk) and took her family frequently to museums of all types, sharing art and history and science and more; to all kinds of performing arts shows; to botanical gardens and places of natural wonders; and countless bookshops. She loved her walks with her walking buddies and with anyone who would join her to explore. Kathy was a prolific letter and postcard writer, and the joy she spread through mailboxes across the world throughout her lifetime will remain one of her hallmark legacies. From deployed soldiers to kids at summer camp to family in England and everyone in between, receiving a card from her was a gift of love, and brightened days and lives in ways larger than the little card carrying it. Every Christmas season she took her girls to the San Francisco Ballet’s or the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s The Nutcracker, and decorated her home with traditional nativities and nutcrackers from her family’s Bavarian woodcarving origins. Each year she traveled to Grass Valley with her close circle of good friends the Madera Moms, a dearly held pilgrimage for these wonderful women. She played each year (and often won) in Fantasy Football Leagues, loved going to sports games, and was reigning Trivia Champion alongside her Team 510. Kathy also kept tender symbols close: her Hummel and Wedgwood and thimble collections; the special artificial Christmas tree gifted to the family by her dear neighbors when she was battling breast cancer, which the family proudly displayed every year as a testament to her miracle and the love of chosen family. Kathy marked every holiday, birth, birthday, and more with special and thoughtful gifts to family and friends, never forgetting important dates and ensuring every recipient felt loved and seen, with her handmade blankets or carefully chosen books or dishes. Of all the traditions she cultivated with her family and all who knew her, none meant more than sharing her love of books and reading. This gift expanded everyone’s world and opened new ones, ignited every imagination, and will continue inspiring generations to come.

As she left off one of her family history stories, “This story is definitely to be continued. . .” the same is true here.

Kathy’s enduring legacy lives on through her greatest treasures: Her daughters Natalie Jeanne, Julietta Marie, and Emily Rose; her granddaughters Josephine Harper, Violet Avery, and Leona Evelyn; and her sons-in-law Gregory Michael, Jonathan Michael, and Gregory Anthony. There are no words that can capture the loss of this extraordinary woman and mother, but the anguish is softened by the certainty she is now at peace, reunited with her beloved mother, who has been waiting patiently for her for over seventy years, and her father, who had the joy of witnessing her as a remarkable mother, adored without measure by her three girls.

Kathy’s fellow wanderer and trailblazer Gandalf (via J.R.R. Tolkien) reminds us, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” There cannot be a greater example of time well spent, of a life well lived and well loved, than Katherine Ann Bertsch Compagno. She lived with insatiable curiosity and unconditional love, with impressive brilliance and gentle patience, approaching every interaction and every person with an open heart and without ego. She was beautiful inside and out, with stunning blue eyes that saw the world with empathy and joy. Her witty sense of humor was delightful, her unceasing wonder at the world and all the creatures within admirable and inspiring. She explored with boldness, observed with neutrality, and preserved all her adventures so others could vicariously learn. Kathy was cheerful, happy, and greeted every person with respect and interest. She asked good questions and touched all who had the privilege of meeting this very special soul. Kathy was always thoughtful, deeply kind, and nurtured many who came to her for solace and comfort, opening her doors, her table, and her heart to any and all in need.

At each granddaughter’s respective blessing, Kathy spoke the following: “I wish you strength, and independence, and a future you choose for yourself. May you choose Wisely, and control your own destiny. Love and Hugs, Grammy.” It is a true testament to the extraordinary mother and rare soul she was that her three daughters so fully lived out her most wholehearted and emphatic declaration. She gave them wings. Kathy supported their dreams, helped them recognize their own gifts, and encouraged them to reach for the horizons that called to them. Her philosophy, rooted in unconditional love, was that she chose not to mold her daughters as a potter would into vessels of her own design; rather, she saw herself as a gardener, planting seeds, tending with love, and stepping back to watch each child grow in her own unique, strong way. Her greatest accomplishment was the bouquet they became.

She is love. She is forever.

Her memory is a blessing.