Mary Kathryn "Kathy" STENGER

STENGER, Mary Kathryn "Kathy" Our sister, friend, and aunt, Mary "Kathy" Kathryn Stenger died peacefully on Wednesday, February 25, 2015, at home, in the house she had restored, in the place she loved. Kathy was born in 1950 in San Mateo, CA to Julian and Lois Stenger and attended Immaculate Heart Grammar School, graduating from Carlmont High School. She spent many years in Belmont, Redwood City and Berkeley before making her home in Guerneville, CA. She will be missed by all her family, including brothers, Paul (Janice) and Jim (Jeanie); sister, Jenifer Moore; nieces, Julianne Elkeshen (Jadd), Victoria Moore, Nicole Stenger, and Karen Hanna (Brian); nephews, Tyler Stenger and Stephen Stenger; grandnieces, Laila Elkeshen, Cora and Delaney Hanna; and grandnephew, Troy Elkeshen, along with dearest life-partner and selfless caretaker, Elizabeth Keithley. Kathy was a union carpenter at a time not many women entered the trades, and later worked for several years as a construction inspector for the Oakland Housing Authority. She loved animals, art and traveling: Hawaii and the Ave of the Giants where she camped, alone and with friends. She was a grower of orchids and carnations and an instinctive champion of the underdog. She was playful, steadfast, tender-hearted, immensely kind, ridiculously capable, and dearly loved. She crafted beautiful structures for humans, and she created loving safe homes for lost and abandoned creatures with paws and wings and big floppy ears. Kathy's departure leaves a huge hole for all of us who loved her, and who marveled at her strength, talents, bravery and resilience. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests donations in Kathy's honor to the Sonoma Humane Society at sonomahumane.org, or to your favorite local animal welfare organization.