July 13, 1925–July 22, 2013
We regret to report on the passing of a neighborhood treasure. Katherine Butler, fondly known by most of her friends as Kitty, passed away on July 22 while visiting her daughter, Ginny Lawton, in Palmer, Alaska. She was 88.
Born in Auburn, Washington on July 13, 1925, Kitty was raised in Portland and graduated from Grant High School with the class of 1943. Although she moved away for a while to follow her Army Air Corps husband, Fenton, she eventually returned to her beloved Northwest and moved into the old family home.
After a stint as an employee of Jantzen Knitting Mills, in 1971 she joined her mother Kitty Geddes in conducting estate sales. Over twenty years and the course of 1,100 weekend sales the team set the standard for Portland estate sales. Kitty loved meeting people, be they old friends or total strangers. Indeed one of her enduring qualities was that she was so genuinely interested in others, and was always a reliable source of information for what was going on in the neighborhood. She was the local historian and knew histories for nearly every house in a one block radius.
Kitty could frequently be seen on her many walks around the neighborhood. She had beagles that she used to walk regularly, but often she would just set out on her own to get some exercise and, I think, to simply meet and catch up with her neighbors. Her dear kitten, Pixie, joined her in the last 8 months of her life and was a wonderful, cuddly companion.
Kitty raised her disabled granddaughter, Amanda, and in her later years looked forward to the frequent weekend visits that Amanda made from Eugene. The two of them would take off on jaunts to water parks, restaurants and the library. Kitty was an avid reader and was well known by the staff at the Hollywood Library. In her last couple of years, after she lost her driver’s license, she enjoyed walking over to our local ‘Little Library’, a lending library maintained by a family down the street. Kitty always had books to recommend and loved exchanging books with her neighbors. After she got a Kindle for Christmas her access to books at home greatly increased.
Friends, family and neighbors bade farewell to Kitty at a Celebration of Life for her on Saturday, August 17. The funny stories told by all remind us that this great lady, whose life was difficult in many ways, had an incredible sense of humor, an insatiable appetite for learning and an abiding interest in others.
I will miss my friend in the days, weeks and years ahead. Walking by her house and not being able to stop in for a cup of tea will be heart wrenching. But I have learned from Kitty that being open, happy and engaging is a great way to spend 88 years on this earth.
We ALL will miss Kitty!