Katherine Owesney "Kay" Enos

1936 - 2020

Katherine "Kay" Owesney Enos

Bremerton - On September 30, 2020, Katherine Louise Crowley Owesney Enos—most often known as Kay—passed away of natural causes in Bremerton, Washington. The natural causes were a confluence of ageing, cancer, and her personal stance about letting nature take its course.

Kay was born on January 7, 1936, to Daniel W. and Katherine (Egerton) Crowley, in Randolph, Massachusetts. She never lost her accent. She graduated from Brockton High School in 1953 and then joined the Navy, where she was stationed in Florida. There she worked in both the supply chain and the chapel, and also met her first husband, William Owesney. She was honorably discharged in 1957, married, and took classes at the Pensacola Junior College from 1959 to 1961, even as she and William started a family. Thomas was born in 1960, and Stephen in 1963.

The Owesneys next moved to Virginia, where they bought a house in McLean that would become Kay's center of operation for decades. However, the family dynamic shifted dramatically when the couple divorced in the mid-1970s and Kay took a job as an executive secretary at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington, DC. She was well respected in her post—but became an icon on evenings and weekends, when her home evolved into an informal hostel for a wide-ranging collection of her children's friends. Kay became a safe haven for dozens of young people, many of whom stayed connected for the remainder of her life.

After her retirement, Kay finally was able to finish her schooling, earning a much desired Bachelor's degree in comparative religion and philosophy from George Mason University. Her life took another sharp turn when she married retired Navy Captain Ralph Enos in 1988, and eventually drifted away from the McLean house. The couple moved to Poulsbo, Washington, and finally settled on Oyster Bay in Bremerton—while traveling the world and playing bridge; Kay earned a rank of Gold Life Master. She also cared for Ralph during his long decline from Parkinson's Disease. After his death in 2011, Kay enjoyed visits from family and friends, watching the bay from her window.

Kay leaves behind an adoring fan club of devoted family, adopted hooligans, bridge players, lifelong friends and neighbors, and an endless supply of new friends whom she might have met at any moment, anywhere. One person who did not outlive her was son Steve, who tragically died in 1998, and who was missed daily. Her parents and older brother, Wayne Crowley, also predeceased her. She is survived by son Tom (Lorinda); grandchildren Britney, Erik, Ryan, and Stephen; daughter-in-law Jennifer Creany (Kevin); step-daughter Mary Enos (David Foster); and the Massachusetts family, which includes sisters Betty and Jeannie and brother Bruce Crowley, along with a collection of nieces and nephews.

She requested no formal services in either Washington State or Virginia, but the family hopes that friends will celebrate her life in their own way, forever.