Kathryn Florence Shoemaker

Kathryn Florence Shoemaker (née Jaworski) passed away peacefully at home in Puyallup, Washington, on September 16, 2026, at the age of 86.

Kathy was born March 1, 1940, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Jacqueline and Stanislaw “Stanley” Jaworski. The journey that brought her there began just months earlier, when her mother Jacqueline, only 17 years old and pregnant with Kathy, left her native France during World War II and crossed the Atlantic alone. She arrived in Norfolk in December 1939, speaking no English, and gave birth to Kathy just a few months later.

Those beginnings remained an important part of who Kathy was throughout her life. French was Kathy's first language and a cherished part of her heritage, and she delighted in finding any opportunity to sprinkle a little French into a conversation. She was deeply proud of her French roots and of her family's Jewish heritage.

Kathy's family eventually made their way to Washington, first to Bellingham and later to Seattle, where she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1958. She was a member of the drill team and also participated in drama. She became a beautician after high school and later worked for King County Court as well as Seattle Trust & Savings Bank.

Kathy was first married to Henry St. John, and together they welcomed their son, Michael Reneé, in 1960. In 1972, she married the love of her life, Joseph Edwin Shoemaker Jr. They shared 31 years of marriage and welcomed daughters Amy Lynn in 1974 and Karin Elizabeth in 1977.

Kathy carried a deep sense of faith throughout her life. That faith was a source of strength through some of life's greatest joys and deepest sorrows. She knew the unimaginable loss of her son Michael when he was just 14, and later, the loss of her beloved Joe. Yet Kathy continued to meet life with courage, resilience & an open heart, finding reasons for joy even after profound loss. When faced with the end of her own life, she drew upon that same faith, accepting what was ahead with a sense of peace and simply saying that it was “part of God's plan.”

Warm, thoughtful & genuinely interested in others, Kathy had a wonderful way of making people feel welcome. No one was a stranger for long. She loved chatting with people, learning their stories & keeping up with what was happening in their lives. She remembered birthdays, celebrated accomplishments both big & small, and was known to send a card simply because she was thinking of you. Friends of her children quickly became part of the family, and anyone who entered Kathy's home was made to feel that they belonged.

Kathy was someone you could count on to show up. If someone she loved needed her, she was there. She was endlessly generous with her time & would do anything for someone she loved. Sometimes that meant lending a hand, sometimes it meant feeding you, encouraging you or celebrating right alongside you, and sometimes it simply meant staying close, so you did not have to face something alone. She had a way of making things feel a little easier just by being there.

Food was one of Kathy's love languages and leaving her home empty-handed was nearly impossible. There was always something to eat and, more often than not, a bag of leftovers or goodies to take home. Her natural desire to nourish & care for others also became part of her life's work through Washington State University's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), where she worked as a Nutrition Education Aide, teaching nutrition to mothers & families in her community. Though technically a part-time position, Kathy gave it full-time heart. Years later, former students would still recognize her around town, stop to talk & tell her how much what she had taught them had meant in their lives. She retired from EFNEP in 2003.

Kathy believed in getting out there & living life. She loved gardening, cooking, reading, her book club & garden club, annual trips to the tulip festival and, as absolutely anyone who knew her can attest, Snoopy. Each year she had her great-grandchildren over to see her special Snoopy Christmas tree and treated them to Snoopy shaped waffles. It became a much-anticipated tradition. She also had a lifelong love of music & the arts. She played piano for 12 years as a child and loved ballet, dancing, horses, and the paintings of Monet. Music had a special way of bringing out her playful spirit, and if there was a good song playing, Kathy was rarely one to sit still. She was always looking for the joy in life and lived by one of her favorite sayings: “We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

Perhaps most of all, Kathy had a way of making things a little lovelier than she found them.

Kathy's greatest joy was the family she loved so dearly. Those left to cherish her memory include her daughters, Amy (Blaine) Shoemaker Gullickson and Karin Shoemaker Blount; her sister, Claudia Rosengard; her stepchildren, Mike Shoemaker and Kathleen (Jerry) Shoemaker Jinguji; her grandchildren, Lisa Phelps, Kristen Oulton, Amanda Woodstrom, Phillip Simons and Vanessa Presho; her great grandchildren, Katie DeVries, Kelly Lam, Brandon Barrett, Lauren Oulton, Emily Oulton and Charlie Oulton; and many beloved great great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Kathy was preceded in death by her beloved son, Michael; her husband and the love of her life, Joe; and her dear grandson, Alex.