Kathleen D'Azevedo

1918 - 2018

Kathleen d'Azevedo

Healdsburg, CA - Kathleen (Kathy) d'Azevedo, former Reno resident, died peacefully at her home in Healdsburg, CA, June 1, 2018, in the company of family and friends. She lived a remarkable 100 years plus 3 months. She came to Reno in 1963 with her husband Warren L. d'Azevedo, who founded the Anthropology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. After he retired in 1988, they remained in Reno until 2004 when they joined Kathy's niece, her husband, and other family members at Healdsburg, in the rolling hills of California's wine country.

A California girl by birth as well as heart, Kathy was born on February 28, 1918 in Alameda, CA , to James Addison of San Francisco, CA and Kathleen Lillian Hosford of Manti, UT. She was a professional dancer in her early adulthood, having trained in the Bay Area, but touring nationally with ballet, flamenco and modern dance ensembles. She married Warren d'Azevedo in 1944, thus beginning a life of scholarly itinerancy until they settled in Reno. After WWII, while her husband was in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, they had their two children, Anya and Erik, and she began her own university education. In Berkley she also became involved with Co-Operative Day Care, which began her lifelong interest in school-aged children and their social interactions.

As her husband pursued his doctorate in Anthropology and took his first teaching positions, Kathy and the children moved with him. They all spent a summer living near Woodfords, in Alpine County, among the Washoe people, thus starting another lifelong interest and lasting friendships. When Warren began field studies for his dissertation in a rural Gola village in Liberia, West Africa in 1956, Kathy and the children went with him, remaining for nearly three years. In addition to taking care of her family, she pursued her interests in social interactions among the Gola children. She spent many hours interviewing and observing them, later using these materials for her Master degree at San Francisco State University (Magna Cum Laude). She finished this degree after settling in Reno, often riding many "Gambler's Special" busses back and forth over a two year period. Given her warm personality, she always found someone interesting to talk with along the way. The extensive results of her Liberian studies are archived in the Liberian Collections, Indiana University Library. After finishing her degree, she worked as a counselor in private firms in Reno. Both d'Azevedos also continued their many friendships with the Washoe people now nearby.

In addition to her interests in school age children, Kathy was an accomplished cook. While in Liberia, she naturally gravitated to Gola foods, their history and preparation. Her book KWI Style Cooking, published in 1962, was a lifeline for early Peace Corps volunteers to Liberia. In 2007, at a meeting of the Liberian Studies Association where both d'Azevedos were honored for their work among the Liberian peoples, numerous former Peace Corps volunteers came up to Kathy thanking her for saving their lives while in Liberia by keeping them healthy.

Kathleen is survived by her two children, Anya d'Azevedo Rosen and Erik L. d'Azevedo of California, and by two nieces, Sharren Azevedo Gervais (Ron) of Alameda, CA and Christine De Loach (Cecil) of Healdsburg, who will always miss her and love her deeply. (Warren d'Azevedo passed in 2014.) She also leaves behind many friends from her years in Reno, western Nevada, and elsewhere, all of whom remember her incredible personal warmth and amazing insight into human nature. Her wit and grace also will be missed by the members of the Santa Rosa exercise class she faithfully attended through her 99th year. Truly a remarkable life, well lived.