Kathleen, our beloved mother and grandmother, passed away in her home in Kirkland, WA on Saturday, October 19, 2019, at the age of 87 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Kathleen was born in Seattle, WA in 1932 to James and Josephine Kelly. She was raised in Seattle and Kirkland, WA, where she graduated from Lake Washington High School.
After graduation she worked for Sears in Seattle where she met her future husband. She married Carl Smithrud in 1953 and was married to him for sixty years before his death in 2014.
Kathleen leaves behind four of her five children: Jim, Mary, Steve, Rob. Ron, her eldest son, preceded her in death in 1991. She also leaves behind three daughters-in-law: Connie, Lynn, and Shinobu; and five grandchildren: Aaron, Megan, Sean, Joshua, and Rachel.
During the 1950’s, 1960’s, and early 1970’s Kathleen put her heart and energy into raising five energetic children. In 1974 Kathleen went to work for the federal government and last worked for US Customs in Seattle until her retirement in 1994.
Kathleen will be remembered as someone who enjoyed the simpler things in life: her family, traveling, taking walks, and going for car rides in her later years. Kathleen was loved and will be missed by all who knew her.
Her viewing will be held on Thursday, October 24th at 10:30 a.m. at Barton’s funeral home in Kirkland, WA at 11630 Slater Ave NE.