Kathleen Everest Dies; Was a Sitka ‘Greeter’

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Friday, 01 September 2023 16:13

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Kathleen Ann Everest

Kathleen Ann Everest, a 25-year resident of Sitka, went to be with the Lord on August 28, 2023.

She loved Sitka and was known locally as an unofficial greeter of cruise ship visitors walking the Sea Walk. Her bright cheery, ”Welcome to Sitka,” put a smile on the face of tourists for many years. 

Kathleen, 79, was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1943 to Harry Whiteside Beattie and Ruth (Bradley) Beattie. She graduated from Shadle Park High School in Spokane in 1961, and moved to Moscow, Idaho, in 1962 as a single mother with her one-year-old son, Ray.

In Moscow she met her husband to be, Fred, in 1965. She was office manager for the Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit at the University of Idaho from 1964 to 1968 where Fred was a graduate student. She and Fred married in 1966 in Redding, California, and began a 57-year love affair.

They moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, in 1968 where daughter, Julie Ann, was born.

In 1977, the family moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where Kathleen was office manager for a busy private medical practice, and later was office manager for CUB Foods, a large interstate grocery chain. She also attended Oregon State University for two years.

The couple moved to Juneau in 1991. There, Kathleen worked for the Alaska Department of Higher Education and the Alaska Department of Public Safety. In 1995 she decided to further her education and entered the University of Alaska. She graduated magna cum laude in 1998 with a bachelor of liberal arts degree in technical writing and editing.

While working on her degree, she helped prepare for publication a number of technical papers from research on the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The couple moved to Sitka in the summer of 1998 and built a retirement home overlooking Sitka Sound. In Sitka, Kathleen worked for Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, the Legislative Information Office, and finally as legislative aide to State Representative Peggy Wilson. After retirement in 2012 she became Sitka’s unofficial greeter of visitors.

Kathleen loved her family and her country with a passion. She was also a dedicated Christian who loved the Lord and the Word of God. She was a Christian who lived her faith, especially favoring the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Kathleen and her husband loved the ocean and sailing. For years they cruised Southeast Alaska and explored the Inside Passage in their 42-foot sailboat.

She suffered for many years from progressively debilitating Parkinson’s disease. 

She leaves her husband Fred and daughter Julie and family in Sitka, son Ray and family in Chesnee, South Carolina, and her brother Bill and his family in the Seattle area.

At her request, no service will be held. She requested cremation and having her ashes scattered in Sitka Sound in view of her home.

For those wishing to make a contribution in her memory, the family suggests donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which she loved.

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