Kathleen Moffett (Rasmussen & Snelson) - Class Of 1963
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Oct 9, 1945 - Mar 9, 2011
Kathleen was born on October 9, 1945 and passed away on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 in Ventura County. Kathleen was a resident of Port Hueneme, California
The romantics among us, fueled by films and songs and fantasies ~ and, of course, hope ~ believe in true love; there is a soul mate out there, somewhere, and destiny will bring us together. I don't know if Kathy Moffett was one of those romantics, but there can be no doubt that she was one of the fortunate few touched by kismet who found her "other half". Or perhaps, "re-found" is a more apropos description. This is a love story.
Kathy Moffett first met Mike Snelson in fifth grade when they attended Oakmont School. At that time, Oakmont and Vista del Valle put on their annual "Pioneer Days", which was basically a Cowboys and Indians day, complete with Conestoga wagons, brave pioneers, and marauding Indians out to seize pioneers, followed by everyone sitting down together to eat. Kathy was a pioneer lady trying to escape an unthinkable fate when Indian Mike felt "something touch him" and point his way to her, where he promptly captured her.
They began dating in ninth grade and were together until spring of our junior year, when Mike took two weeks off for Easter but didn't tell Kathy or contact her while he was gone. And as far as she was concerned, he was truly gone: she told him that if his actions showed how much he cared for her, it obviously wasn't enough. Early in our senior year, Mike and I had dated for a short while when, one night after parking in front of my house, he told me "it just didn't feel right" for us to continue to date because he was "still in love with Moffett". I'm happy to say that instead of being all shook up, I was impressed by his truthfulness in doing what I today still see as a gallant deed.
After high school, they went their separate ways: Mike to Vietnam, marriage, and the birth of two daughters; Kathy to college, marriage to Paul Rasmussen, and the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, where she was bitten by a rabid dog and learned to bake pies in a wood stove, which greatly impressed the local chief. Neither marriage lasted; Kathy's had been particularly painful.
Mike found Kathy again in the early 80's in San Diego. At dinner, he heard that in the intervening years, she had learned to sail, held a 50 ton (later to be a 100 ton) skipper pilot's license, was a scuba diver, and ran boats up and down the coast. After dinner, she asked Mike to lift up his glasses and when he did, she said, "I've been looking for that face for twenty years." But she was gun-shy and apprehensive about a "new" relationship. When Mike, however, told her he wasn't prepared to lose her again, she replied, "Well, okay ~ but no funny business!"
Together, they began Harbor Yacht Maintenance in Oxnard, repairing and maintaining fifty boats and also making deliveries to San Diego and back. When Kathy became pregnant in early 1983, she was sure it was a boy and that he'd be called Michael. As our 20th reunion approached that summer, she told Mike, "This will be fun", and they told no one in advance about their relationship or her pregnancy. I don't know about anyone else, but seeing them together ~ Mike grinning broadly and Kathy looking like a small ship under sail ~ is, for me, an indelible memory. Their son Michael was born in September, 1983, and was a witness when his parents married in February, 1984.
In the years that followed, Kathy and Mike continued their work on boats until an accident nearby helped Mike decide they were too old for either one or both of them to be hurt. Kathy next worked in accounting and then started her own debt reconciliation business when their son was in high school. Soon, she and Michael started a tax business and prospered. She was, according to Mike, a "workaholic" who loved to be busy, who was happy and greeted each sunrise with "What's today's challenge?" and then took it on. She never complained about aches and pains and just got on with living.
So Mike was concerned when, in March, 2011, Kathy complained of a headache which worsened during the day. At the hospital, it was discovered that she had suffered a brain aneurysm which was irreparable. She died on March 9th, 2011. That February, she and Mike had celebrated their 27th anniversary.
Those of us who "knew" Kathy in school and college knew a cute, smart, whimsical, and bubbly girl. We did not know the skilled sailor who loved the sea or the generous step-mother of Mike's daughters or the successful business woman or the mother of a now-grown, creative, and thriving son. The loss is ours.
When they scattered Kathy's ashes at the mouth of the Ventura River, Mike and his daughters and their spouses and his and Kathy's son, all saw on the nearby ocean, a woman on board a sailing boat, waving at them. Make of this what you will. Mike believes it was Kathy, and he saw her again last March in the same place on the same day. And that's good enough for me.
The romantics among us might take heart that Mike believes each of us has a true love, a soul mate. Some of us are blessed to have found that "other half". Kathy's was Mike, and he was hers. Our memories of her cast a glow over the years that have brought us five decades beyond our youth.
Marsha, this Class of '65 member knew not Kathleen, Mike, nor you; but knows a gifted writer when he reads one. Your tribute is first-rate, surely appreciated by all Wolves who have the great and good fortune to see it. You did the loving couple of whom you wrote proud.
Marsha, I completely agree. This is exactly what I want the Memory pages to do: to breathe life into the memories of those who are no longer with us. You have written a lovely tribute that makes us celebrate the joy of a life well-lived. I wish I had known Kathy, and offer my condolences to Mike and her family in their grief. I hope your eloquent gift brings smiles through their tears.
Dear Marsha, I have to agree. This is a beautiful and inspired piece of writing. Thank you! I too hope you're a writer who will publish. We'd love to hear you've already done so. I didn't know Kathy as I graduated in 1967 after 3 years at Claremont H. S. But I feel as though I did know her thanks to you. Diana (Norris) Loomis.
What an incredible piece of work to honor Kathleen - you mentioned tribute, included her family.... Kathleen led a storied life of remarkable achievements, accented with serendipitous epiphanies.
It's good when a life, at the end, is truly celebrated as a tribute by a community.
Marsha, you must have been an amazing English teacher! Your eloquent tribute to Kathy's life was as special as she was...although I went through a box of Kleenex to complete it! I truly believe sincere love enhances the width and the warmth of the embrace we offer to others. Thank you !
Also, it was wonderful to visit with you at our 50th Reunion. Your positive support was appreciated!
A great tribute to one of the most vivacious people I have known. My main memory of Kathy was when it was her turn to say Grace at the dinner table she simply said, "Good grub, let's eat."
Oh my goodness, how happy you have made me!!!! I dated Mike briefly and he was the most polite boy ever. We started an Alateens group and my parents freaked out, AA was not big in those days. What a great love story and I know they saw her on the ocean. WoW!!! Great work and love to all of you...
Marsha Grieba Lomax (Sanders) (1963)
The romantics among us, fueled by films and songs and fantasies ~ and, of course, hope ~ believe in true love; there is a soul mate out there, somewhere, and destiny will bring us together. I don't know if Kathy Moffett was one of those romantics, but there can be no doubt that she was one of the fortunate few touched by kismet who found her "other half". Or perhaps, "re-found" is a more apropos description. This is a love story.
Kathy Moffett first met Mike Snelson in fifth grade when they attended Oakmont School. At that time, Oakmont and Vista del Valle put on their annual "Pioneer Days", which was basically a Cowboys and Indians day, complete with Conestoga wagons, brave pioneers, and marauding Indians out to seize pioneers, followed by everyone sitting down together to eat. Kathy was a pioneer lady trying to escape an unthinkable fate when Indian Mike felt "something touch him" and point his way to her, where he promptly captured her.
They began dating in ninth grade and were together until spring of our junior year, when Mike took two weeks off for Easter but didn't tell Kathy or contact her while he was gone. And as far as she was concerned, he was truly gone: she told him that if his actions showed how much he cared for her, it obviously wasn't enough. Early in our senior year, Mike and I had dated for a short while when, one night after parking in front of my house, he told me "it just didn't feel right" for us to continue to date because he was "still in love with Moffett". I'm happy to say that instead of being all shook up, I was impressed by his truthfulness in doing what I today still see as a gallant deed.
After high school, they went their separate ways: Mike to Vietnam, marriage, and the birth of two daughters; Kathy to college, marriage to Paul Rasmussen, and the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, where she was bitten by a rabid dog and learned to bake pies in a wood stove, which greatly impressed the local chief. Neither marriage lasted; Kathy's had been particularly painful.
Mike found Kathy again in the early 80's in San Diego. At dinner, he heard that in the intervening years, she had learned to sail, held a 50 ton (later to be a 100 ton) skipper pilot's license, was a scuba diver, and ran boats up and down the coast. After dinner, she asked Mike to lift up his glasses and when he did, she said, "I've been looking for that face for twenty years." But she was gun-shy and apprehensive about a "new" relationship. When Mike, however, told her he wasn't prepared to lose her again, she replied, "Well, okay ~ but no funny business!"
Together, they began Harbor Yacht Maintenance in Oxnard, repairing and maintaining fifty boats and also making deliveries to San Diego and back. When Kathy became pregnant in early 1983, she was sure it was a boy and that he'd be called Michael. As our 20th reunion approached that summer, she told Mike, "This will be fun", and they told no one in advance about their relationship or her pregnancy. I don't know about anyone else, but seeing them together ~ Mike grinning broadly and Kathy looking like a small ship under sail ~ is, for me, an indelible memory. Their son Michael was born in September, 1983, and was a witness when his parents married in February, 1984.
In the years that followed, Kathy and Mike continued their work on boats until an accident nearby helped Mike decide they were too old for either one or both of them to be hurt. Kathy next worked in accounting and then started her own debt reconciliation business when their son was in high school. Soon, she and Michael started a tax business and prospered. She was, according to Mike, a "workaholic" who loved to be busy, who was happy and greeted each sunrise with "What's today's challenge?" and then took it on. She never complained about aches and pains and just got on with living.
So Mike was concerned when, in March, 2011, Kathy complained of a headache which worsened during the day. At the hospital, it was discovered that she had suffered a brain aneurysm which was irreparable. She died on March 9th, 2011. That February, she and Mike had celebrated their 27th anniversary.
Those of us who "knew" Kathy in school and college knew a cute, smart, whimsical, and bubbly girl. We did not know the skilled sailor who loved the sea or the generous step-mother of Mike's daughters or the successful business woman or the mother of a now-grown, creative, and thriving son. The loss is ours.
When they scattered Kathy's ashes at the mouth of the Ventura River, Mike and his daughters and their spouses and his and Kathy's son, all saw on the nearby ocean, a woman on board a sailing boat, waving at them. Make of this what you will. Mike believes it was Kathy, and he saw her again last March in the same place on the same day. And that's good enough for me.
The romantics among us might take heart that Mike believes each of us has a true love, a soul mate. Some of us are blessed to have found that "other half". Kathy's was Mike, and he was hers. Our memories of her cast a glow over the years that have brought us five decades beyond our youth.
Smooth sailing and safe journey, Kathy.
Douglas Rosenow (1965)
Marsha, this Class of '65 member knew not Kathleen, Mike, nor you; but knows a gifted writer when he reads one. Your tribute is first-rate, surely appreciated by all Wolves who have the great and good fortune to see it. You did the loving couple of whom you wrote proud.
Sharon Esterley (1961)
Marsha, I completely agree. This is exactly what I want the Memory pages to do: to breathe life into the memories of those who are no longer with us. You have written a lovely tribute that makes us celebrate the joy of a life well-lived. I wish I had known Kathy, and offer my condolences to Mike and her family in their grief. I hope your eloquent gift brings smiles through their tears.
Diana Norris (Loomis) (1967)
Dear Marsha, I have to agree. This is a beautiful and inspired piece of writing. Thank you! I too hope you're a writer who will publish. We'd love to hear you've already done so. I didn't know Kathy as I graduated in 1967 after 3 years at Claremont H. S. But I feel as though I did know her thanks to you. Diana (Norris) Loomis.
George Martin Lakehomer (1965)
Carol Ann Polster (Christiansen) (1963)
Marsha, you must have been an amazing English teacher! Your eloquent tribute to Kathy's life was as special as she was...although I went through a box of Kleenex to complete it! I truly believe sincere love enhances the width and the warmth of the embrace we offer to others. Thank you !
Also, it was wonderful to visit with you at our 50th Reunion. Your positive support was appreciated!
Much love,
Carol (Polster) Christiansen - CHS '63
Steven Alan Hyman (1962)
Marsha,
A great tribute to one of the most vivacious people I have known. My main memory of Kathy was when it was her turn to say Grace at the dinner table she simply said, "Good grub, let's eat."
Dale Hiatt (1964)
Oh my goodness, how happy you have made me!!!! I dated Mike briefly and he was the most polite boy ever. We started an Alateens group and my parents freaked out, AA was not big in those days. What a great love story and I know they saw her on the ocean. WoW!!! Great work and love to all of you...