Katharine Merle Drew, 85, of Coupeville, died Saturday, May 12, 2012, in Shoreline, Wash. At her request no memorial service will be held but a special remembrance will be part of the 11 a.m. service Sunday, May 20 at the Coupeville United Methodist Church. All are welcome to attend.

Katharine was born on May 4, 1927, in Great Falls, Mont., to Linus and Cecile Carleton. She grew up on the wide open prairies of Montana and died as a proud Coupeville resident on the prairie lands of Ebey’s Landing.

As a child Kay loved to hunt and fish with her handsome father. Kay met her husband Lelan at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., during their freshman year. She also spent two more years of college getting her teaching certificate in Billings, Mont. Kay went on to teach in White Sulpher Springs, Mont., and worked a year in the State Department of Education.

In 1950 she and Lee were married. In Seattle they raised four children. Kay was grateful that she could stay at home during these precious years. Her husband often worked two jobs and was a Seattle fireman for 25 years. Kay’s joys were her children, camping, crafting, choir singing, baking and playing cards. She volunteered working in school libraries and teaching Sunday school. She coordinated the building of an education wing at their Stanwood Methodist church, worked on interracial projects in Seattle, and was coordinator of the Ballard FISH help group.

Kay will be dearly remembered by all for her kind and generous heart, her robust love for music, for her incredible cooking abilities, and for her love of the natural world around her. She was happiest when her large family was gathered around her table, eating foods she loved to prepare. For decades, everywhere Kay and Lee lived, she was “the light of the neighborhood,” bringing families together. She often met the school bus with fresh baked cookies for the Coupeville neighbor kids she loved. To Kay, music was a natural expression of her joy; and throughout her life she lent her voice to every duet, trio, sextet, chorus, and choir that needed a strong alto. Her skills at card games, especially bridge, were legendary.

Kay loved photography and chronicled most every wildflower in the state. Always proving that homemade gifts were the best and possessing a fine skill for crafts, she adorned cards sent to family and friends with beautiful pictures she had taken of mountain flowers.

Kay’s was a quiet, smiling, always kind spirit that those of us lucky enough to have been touched by her will miss. But that wonderful spirit will live on through the ones she loved.

Kay is survived by her husband Lelan Drew of Coupeville; her brother Linus Carleton and his wife Corliss of Tualatin, Ore.; her sister Trudi Peek of Poulsbo, Wash.; her sons Steve Drew and his wife Alison of McMinnville, Ore., Mike Drew and his wife Molly of Veradale, Wash., and David Drew and his wife Geri of Bothell; and her daughter Penny Hayes and her husband Jeff of East Wenatchee. Kay leaves behind seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Linus Carleton Scholarship Fund at the University of Montana in Missoula, or locally to the Coupeville United Methodist Church. ?