Kathleen A. Crowder, age 65, died August 25, 2019 at the Ferry County Memorial Hospital. If you were with Kathy, you were having fun. She always had a laugh and a smile. She was the eternal optimist who offered words of encouragement to those around her no matter the activity. Kathy loved all children and animals and they loved her. Kathy was born on March 10, 1954 to Doug and Chick Russell in Omak, WA. Those that knew her, knew her to be funny, hardworking, loyal, affectionate, and generous to others.
Kathy went through the Omak School system graduating in 1972. There she participated in basketball, track and field, and played the clarinet in the school band. In 1972, on a trip to Seattle she met her future husband Joe Crowder. They later married in 1975 at her parent's home in Omak, WA. In 1979 Joe took a position as a Game Warden for the Colville Tribe. Kathy and Joe moved to Republic where Kathy began her career with the Ferry County Sherriff's office/ She started as dispatch/cook/janitor and rose to the Chief of Corrections Officer then settled in as the Lead Dispatch. She retired in 2014 after 35 years of service.
Kathy was considered an adventurous woman. She would try her hand at any sport. In the early 80's she joined the women's town softball team where she loved to play 3rd base. She always traveled with her baseball gear in case she found a ball game in progress. She was not shy about asking strangers if she could join in. With all the encouragement of her husband, she learned to scuba dive. Joe and Kathy dove the local lakes and took several boat dive trips in the San Juan Islands and around Vancouver Island. Kathy was quick to chill and enjoyed dive trips to the Caribbean and Hawaii saying, "warm water dives are the best."
Next came learning to paraglide out of Cashmere followed by kiteboarding in Hood River, Oregon. Other summertime activities included mountain biking, hiking, fishing, paddle boarding, and tending to her yard, flower pot garden, and flowers. During winter it was all about the snow; Kathy lived to ski and skied to live. Skiing was her reason to wake up in the morning and she was good at it. She would always say you could tell the ones having the most fun – they had the biggest smile…and SHE did! It was easy to locate Kathy; she was always laughing or yelling out a big "Woo-Hoo!"
A big thank you goes out to all who provided meals, flowers, cards, gifts, and especially visits to Kathy during her stay. A special "Thank You" goes to the Republic Hospital staff, the Wenatchee Valley Hospital staff, North Central WA Cancer Care - Our House, and the Spokane Hospice staff for their excellent care.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at the Omak Memorial Cemetery at 2517 Elmway in Okanogan at 1:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, Kathy asks that donations be made to: North Central WA Cancer Care - Our House in Wenatchee.