Kathryn "Kathy" Louise Larsen was born on October 22, 1955 to Art and Lois Larsen of Seattle, Washington. She was the youngest of six children born in the Larsen family. Her siblings were Jerry, Doreen, Leon, Sandi, and Jay. Kathy met her first husband Scott Sandon through mutual friends. They fell in love and were married on August 6, 1977. They had three children together: Amber, Scotty, and Chandra. Kathy worked at several jobs through out her life, but she said that working at the Georgia Pacific plant in Bellingham, and as an Operating Engineer for the local 302 out of Seattle were the jobs she enjoyed the most. At Georgia Pacific Kathy was entrusted with the potentially dangerous job of overseeing the bleaching process of paper pulp. She was a careful worker and took her job very seriously knowing that the effects of any chemical leaksmay be deadly to her community. To help counter the stress of such responsibility, Kathy would often rescue injured adult or baby pigeons that had fallen from their nests among the equipment at Georgia Pacific. She was known as the "Bird Lady" amongst her co-workers and brought home many birds to be raised or re-habilitated to the delight of her children. She loved teaching the baby birds how to fly. As an Operating Engineer Kathy ran many different machines, but her favorites were backhoes and cranes. She said that she found demolition jobs a lot of fun, but she was also fond of the many large construction projects in and around Seattle that she helped to complete, including that of the construction of Safeco Field. Kathy greatly esteemed working hard and enjoyed a reputation as one of the best women operators in the union. As a hobby, Kathy loved to raise pet rabbitsand at one time she and her children boasted about having over 30 of the cute little things. Some of the rabbits she raised were sold or given to serious breeders and competitors and ended up placing very well in rabbit competitions and shows. She was an animal lover and through out her life had several much loved dogs as well. Kathy also completed the course to earn her official NASCAR driver's license and enjoyed working on her husbands pit crew when he raced in the "Bomber" class at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. Kathy and Scott were happily married for 20 years until Scott passed away on January 7, 1998. Kathy married her second husband John Woodman on June 31, 2000. They purchased an RV and toured the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California with their two spoiled and much adored cats: "Buddly-boodles" and "Smiley-kitty." Having aspired since childhood to be a marine biologist, Kathy loved spending time beach combing and observing marine life. She enjoyed teaching her grandkids all about the wonders of the beach. Kathy also had fun defending her title as the Undefeated Champion of "Scrabble" among her family and friends. Kathy also cherished spending time with her seven grandchildren whom she dearly loved: Maryjane, Evadya, Chase, Hailey, Abigail, Bianca, and Kayla. She was also excitedly anticipating the birth of her newest granddaughter in March who will be named Kathryn in honor of her "Nana." Kathy and John enjoyed exploring the coast for several years until Kathy's illness made her settle back in Washington in October of 2007. After two happy months of being back home with her kids and grandkids, Kathy passed away surrounded by loving family on January 8th 2008.

Please visit Mom's memorial web site: www.rememberingkathy.net