Kathleen Joan (McCown) Mayhew

Kay was born Oct. 3, 1933, in Dewitt, Arkansas, to Charles Park McCown and Roberta Kleiser, and left us too soon, due to complications following esophageal cancer.

Her family settled in Ventura California. Kay was an accomplished pianist, and was in demand as an accompanist. She met Lawrence Lee Mayhew (Larry) when they were 13, as nearby neighbors and classmates. He knew instantly how special she was; they married in 1955 after he finished Navy flight school. While stationed at Whidbey Island, they both fell in love with the Northwest. After the Navy they moved to San Luis Obispo, California while he attended Cal Poly.

They had three children, and the young family eventually settled in Portland, Oregon, where Larry worked for Tektronix and Kay was a homemaker. The family spent an adventurous three years living in the Netherlands where Larry was sent to manage a Tek plant; Kay quickly learned Dutch, and gracefully dealt with the difficulties of living in a foreign country, but was happy to return to Portland.

In 1982, with the children grown, Kay and Larry relocated to Redmond, Washington, where Larry worked for Data I/O. Kay, an avid gardener, took on landscaping their 2.5 acre yard, plus volunteered at the Washington Park Arboretum and the Ryther Children’s Center. In 1985, Kay was kidnapped. The always resourceful woman took apart a chemical toilet in the van where she was held hostage, ready to throw the chemicals at her captor if/when the door opened. When the captor instead parked the van and left her alone inside, she took on the plywood barrier, and freed herself.

Kay made friends for life everywhere she went, continuing to keep in touch with friends from grade school, the Navy, Holland, and Portland. She was full of happiness and laughter, a wonderful cook, a welcoming hostess, a beautiful woman inside and out. This amazing woman will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Kay was survived by Larry Mayhew, her husband of nearly 60 years, who missed her every day until he also passed away Nov. 5, 2021. The couple is survived by daughters Taryn Mayhew and Kim (Rusty) Lewis, son Jeff (Sandy) Mayhew, and grandson Alan Mayhew.

A bench has been placed in the Washington Park Arboretum in her honor.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.skylinememorialgardens.com for the Mayhew family.