Kathleen Ann (Kathy)
McMorrow
August 20, 1958 - October 19, 2023
Kathleen Ann McMorrow, known to all as Kathy, died October 19, 2023, in her home in Santa Rosa, California, accompanied by siblings and their spouses, supported by local friends, and nursed lovingly by Health Care Aide Milli and Sutter Hospice.
Kathy was born in San Diego on August 20, 1958, to Miriam and Donald McMorrow, the seventh of what would be nine children. For most of her life, Kathy lived in California. She spent her childhood in Menlo Park, attending Sacred Heart Schools Atherton from kindergarten through high school, graduating as Salutatorian of her class in 1976. From there, Kathy enrolled at UC Davis, majoring in history, and graduating Cum Laude in 1981. Known for her incisive intellect and pronounced talent for clear and powerful writing, Kathy pursued a Master of Arts in Journalism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, because its renowned program permitted her to develop her specialty: Science and Medical writing. Kathy had an extraordinary talent for taking complex scientific or medical findings and making the content accessible for a thoughtful public. In fact, an early assignment upon completing her degree would be "translating" a scientific article by Robert Oppenheimer into text readers could readily comprehend. At UNC, Kathy became immediately and forever a rabid Tarheel.
After completing her studies, Kathy carefully researched where she wanted to live, selecting Santa Rosa for its beauty, natural park reserves, small businesses, vibrant local community, and amazing farmers' markets. After moving there, Kathy sought a job that would engage her training, beginning at Nesbit & Associates where her work focused on making accessible the science of energy and energy policy. After several years at Nesbit, Kathy secured a perfect position at Medtronic, for her heart and mind were always geared toward new research findings in the field of Medicine. At Medtronic, where she spent most of her career, Kathy was promoted over time to Senior Medical Marketing Consultant in the area of Coronary and Renal Denervation. There she worked on over thirty (!) product launches while her colleagues highly valued her superb project management skills, deep curiosity, and passion for excellence.
Apart from her professional career, Kathy loved to cook, garden, read, and hike. She spent memorable weeks river-rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and delighted in handling the swimming leg of a triathlon with brothers Brian (who ran) and Don (who biked). Active in cooking and gardening Facebook groups, she formed close bonds with friends she never met in person. New Yorker cartoons fed her keen sense of humor, while The Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, and, above all, Elvis Costello provided her sound track. Above all, Kathy loved the ocean, and she loved to swim. Not content with regular, intense swimming workouts year-round at her local community pool, Kathy trained for and participated in open water swims, across the Golden Gate (twice!), across Lakes Donner and Berryessa, and from Capitola to Santa Cruz. This past Spring, Kathy snorkeled in Kauai.
Kathy initiated and coordinated her family's yearly "McMorrow Madness" competition during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, designing the trophy, awarding the purse, and appointing herself "Commish for Life." The high point for her family were the weekly masterpiece summaries she issued after each round: witty, insightful, and inclusive, as Kathy found ways to highlight each person's master move or lucky guess, while soothing any absolute loser with the "Dead Wrong in Public Award" that guaranteed free entry the following year. Regardless of their own loyalties, all participants were required, of course, to enter each year yet another Tarheel password, like "Carolina Blue." The original "Old Mad McMurrough Trophy" has now been renamed in her honor: The Kathy Cup.
When it came to health, life dealt Kathy a tough hand. Although she survived Hodgkin's in her early twenties because of a new life-saving protocol, that treatment laid the path for greatly reduced immunity and three auto-immune diseases, of which Fibromyalgia was the hardest to manage. But manage it Kathy did, always maintaining full employment in her demanding, though gratifying, career at Medtronic. Heavy doses of radiation for Hodgkin's caused breast cancer in her fifties, requiring a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Then in August 2022, Kathy was diagnosed with highly aggressive colon cancer despite faithful adherence to regular colonoscopy screening. All along, her family have been amazed by the courageous, honest, and highly informed way Kathy faced each of these health conditions and made treatment decisions, including her determination to die at home, in hospice. Her family are so grateful to all Kathy's doctors and Health Care teams at UCSF and at Sutter in Santa Rosa. We are grateful, too, for her friends, Medtronic Colleagues, and support groups who rallied to her side during her illness, in person, and through CaringBridge.
Kathy-devoted to her sibs, nieces, and nephews-spent great care selecting just the right gifts for them, as well as thoughtful surprises for our parents when they were still alive. She is survived by her siblings and their spouses/significant others: Marilyn McMorrow RSCJ; Don (and Judy) McMorrow; John (and Shari) McMorrow; Susan (and Dan) Oehlsen; Joe McMorrow; Jim McMorrow and Mary Neeveacheak; Greg McMorrow and Jackie Affonso; and Brian (and Nora) McMorrow. Nieces and Nephews include: Kelly (Mike), Michael (Allison), and Kevin (Jess) McMorrow; Ben (Allie) and Tim McMorrow; Matt (Brittany) and Emily Oehlsen; Nicki McMorrow-Westhauser (Greg); and Brendan, Lily, Sophia, and Dennis McMorrow. Adding to her joy were a growing number of "greats:" Aden and Cohen, Ray, Violette, and Lucy; and Conor and June.
In addition to family and close friends, the other great loves of Kathy's life were Emma, her cat, while Kathy was young, and Pippin, her beloved Pup during her last years. The San Francisco Giants, the Golden State Warriors especially Steph Curry, and the Forty-Niners always drew her fervid support.
Should you wish, and in lieu of flowers, Kathy would suggest a donation to any Non-Profit that assists young persons in becoming informed and active citizens devoted to the vote. Her desire is for a Celebration of Life for family and friends in Spring 2024.