Kathryn Ernestine "Kay" Isaacson, 99, Bloomington IN, passed away Monday, June 29, 2020. She was born on Good Friday, March 25, 1921, in Phillips WI, to Amelia "Mollie" and John Bolton, the first of six children.
Kay is survived by her two children and their spouses, Diana (Douglas) MacDonald of Columbia MD, and Eric (Melanie) Isaacson of Bloomington; by one granddaughter Erica Isaacson of Bloomington; by one brother Harold Bolton of New Berlin WI, by many nieces and nephews, and by her caregiver Terre Madawick, with whom she formed a close friendship in the last four years of her life.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Gilbert Isaacson, her brothers John, David, and Robert Bolton, her sister Marion Brekken, and by almost all of her generational peers.
Kay attended a one-room country school for eight years. She graduated from Phillips High School in 1938, and Whitewater Teachers College (now UW Whitewater) in 1942. She married Gil on December 19, 1942, and taught commercial subjects at Chetek WI High School while Gil served in the US Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II. After the war, Gil's career took the family to numerous cities: Milwaukee WI, Waukegan IL, Muskogee OK, Nashville TN, Kokomo IN, Cleveland OH, Greenville SC, El Paso TX, and Concord NH, where Kay was widowed in 1981. In 1983 she moved to Bloomington to be near her only grandchild, and lived there for the rest of her life.
She was active in volunteer work, St. Thomas Lutheran Church, and several bridge groups. She learned to paint. Every summer into her late 80s, she enjoyed driving to Wisconsin to visit friends and relatives, pick wild berries, and read books. She stayed alone, enjoying the peace and beauty of the north woods.
Kay was known to all for her gentle kindness and serene happiness, even as she saw clearly the difficulties life sometimes threw at her. She was always her own person. She taught her children by setting a good example, and was the least judgmental, least controlling, least guilt-inducing mother anyone could ever hope to have. She lived a full life, informed by her deep Christian faith, and met her maker at about the exact time she wished.
Kay has requested cremation, with no viewing. There will be a memorial service at St. Thomas Lutheran Church, at some time (probably next year) when such services are completely free of COVID risk. There will be another memorial next summer by her parents' graves in Phillips, with some sprinkling of ashes.
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