Kathleen Rose McKinzie

The Farmer’s Almanac for 1938 says that Wednesday, May 18 had a beautiful sunrise. We know that’s true because that is when Kathleen Ahearn joined us, with the brightest of smiles and a hearty laugh. That smile, and that laugh, endured through the 83 years of Kathy’s time with us, until the early morning hours of September 18, 2021, when the ravages of Alzheimer’s forced a sunset into the life of this beautiful soul. Kathleen Rose Ahearn was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, to Leonard and Mary Rose "Mae" Ahearn. Her dad was the local postmaster and her mother clerked at the bank. Kathy was only 13 when her mother died and she and her older sister Ruth had the responsibility of helping her dad run the household. Her only regret during that time, she has told us, was not having a mother to share those early childhood experiences. In those days, young women were usually encouraged to pursue either a secretarial or nursing career, and Kathy chose nursing, taking her training at a hospital in Springfield and graduating in 1960. In 1961 she coaxed two of her roommates to travel with her on a 5-week junket around Europe. Squeezing into a rented VW Beetle with the popular Europe on Five Dollars a Day guidebook, they worked their way from Italy to Sweden, with enough bizarre experiences to rattle even the most seasoned traveler. When they finally landed back in the United States, they had only five dollars between them!

In 1963, it was Kathy who inspired more travel, squeezing into yet another VW Beetle and this time heading to the West Coast, seeking employment and hoping for a taste of the glamorous California scene. That didn’t quite work out, and she and her roommates found themselves in the high desert, working as nurses at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s medical facility. The desert was where she met her future husband, Gordon McKinzie, who was a flight test engineer at Edwards Air Force Base. He tumbled hard for this beautiful and spirited East Coast transplant, and they were married in Lancaster, California in 1966. This was the start of a life together that produced three wonderful children: Kara, Mark, and Eric.

In 1968, Gordon was hired into the engineering department of United Airlines. They soon left the desert life, and before long were calling San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, and Seattle their home bases that spanned their beautiful 55-year-long life together. Everyone who knew Kathy felt she had a special talent for bringing out the best in people. Her biggest joy was in making people happy – her smile was contagious and she was always ready with the means to produce a laugh or share some outlandish anecdote of her life. She kept busy with work in food banks,

soup kitchens, and conducting remedial schooling for children.

She loved books and worked in several book stores over the years. She could finish a paperback novel in two days and devour a newspaper during a single coffee break. She was able to take books from her job at the bookstore and boasted the ugliest bookshelves in her house because her store required that the covers be ripped off before they could be taken home! Her friendships were rock-solid, and once made, never wavered. She will be forever loved, and her memories will be forever special and precious.

Kathy is survived by her husband, Gordon; daughter Kara McKinzie (Scott Sackett); son Mark (Myha) McKinzie; son Eric (Monique) McKinzie; her sister Ruth Clark, and grandchildren Ashley, Kyle, Matthew, Ryan, Ben, Jake, Evan and chosen grandchildren Reese and Jenise Clark. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills, Lynnwood, Washington.