Kathryn Warner passed from us in peace at her home in Bellingham, Washington.
Kathryn (Katy) Richert Warner was born on Dec.11, 1942, in Chehalis, Washington, to Bill and Lena Richert. She graduated from W.F. West High School in 1961. She attended Centralia College and graduated from Western Washington University in 1965 with a BA in education. After graduating from college, Katy spent a year in Europe. While in Europe, she worked for six months as a governess for a German family before spending five months hitchhiking through most of Western Europe. After returning from Europe, she moved to Bainbridge Island, where she taught English at Bainbridge High School from 1966 to 1968.
In 1967, Katy married Michael Warner, and a year later they moved to New Mexico. Katy lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the next 10 years and, during that time, traveled extensively throughout the Southwest and Mexico. It was in New Mexico that Katy completed her master’s degree in counseling psychology from New Mexico Highlands University and began her career as a mental health professional with community-based nonprofit programs. From 1974 to 1979, Katy worked as a mental health counselor at the newly formed Santa Fe Counseling and Resource Center.
In 1979, Katy moved back to Washington state where she took the position of crisis intervention specialist with Eastside Mental Health Center in Bellevue. She became a Washington state licensed mental health counselor and spent seven years providing crisis intervention services to severely and persistently mentally ill clients. She and Michael were divorced in 1988. After resigning her position at Eastside Mental Health, Katy accepted the position of intake coordinator with Youth Eastside Services and held that position until 1991, at which time she became the director of the City of Seattle Agent Orange Class Assistance Program. During her tenure with this program, Katy received the City of Seattle’s Maximum Achievement Award for her work with Vietnam veterans and their families.
The final 12 years of Katy’s professional career were spent with the organization, Wellspring Family Service, where she served as program manager for the transitional assistance program, a program providing services to homeless families and individuals in King County. She served on the steering committee of the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness and, in 2003, was elected to the board of directors of the Washington State Coalition on Homelessness, where she completed a four-year term.
Katy was preceded in death by her parents and sister Patricia Richert. She is survived by her brother Steve Richert (Margo); her sister Susan Richert; her niece Jenny Hammer (Porter); her nephew Matthew Richert (Julia); as well as her two grandnephews, Ulysses Hammer and Cooper Richert. Katy is also survived by her devoted life partner for the last 29 years, Steven Kager. This enduring bond had the added blessing of bringing Steven’s daughter, Kristine Kager, his son-in-law, Lance Bailey, and granddaughter, Bailey Kager, into her life.
Although Katy’s profess-ional career was immensely rewarding, she also enjoyed fly-fishing, cross-country skiing and traveling in Europe and Mexico. She was an avid reader, art collector and supporter of Seattle’s performing arts.
In addition to her long and successful career in community health, Katy will be remembered for her quick wit, storytelling, engaging spirit and compassion for others. She felt incredibly blessed to have lived a full, rich life with deep connections to family and friends. Katy will be dearly missed by those who loved her and were enriched by her presence.
