Kathy Crowe

Mary Kathleen Crowe November 30, 1954 – August 16, 2020 Mary Kathleen (Kathy) Crowe was born in Sacramento, Calif. on November 30, 1954, to Robert Merle and Gene Gilmour Brown. Kathy passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 16, 2020, at the age of 65. Kathy’s family moved to Corvallis in 1964 after her dad started teaching at the Children’s Farm Home. She attended Garfield Elementary School, Highland View Junior High, and then graduated from Corvallis High School in 1973. She attended Oregon State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Education in 1978. On December 18, 1976, she married Steve Crowe, also from Corvallis. They had two sons Matthew (Matt) A. Crowe, born August 8, 1984, and Michael (Andy or A.C.) A. Crowe, born May 27, 1986. Kathy was preceded in death by her father, Robert Brown; her mother, Gene Brown; and brother, Scott Brown. She is survived by her husband Steve; sons Matt Crowe and Andy (Kayla) Crowe; grandchildren, Lilah Crowe, Harper Crowe, Cora Crowe, Hadley Crowe, Hudson Crowe, and Hayden Crowe; nieces Mackenzie Brown and Michaela Brown; cousins, Jann Gorrin, Bob Brown, Mary Beth Tannehill, and Laura Klein. After graduation from OSU, Kathy went on to work for Hewlett Packard in 1979. Her first position allowed her to use her degree in education creating internal HP employee training films. Over her 36 year career at Hewlett Packard, Kathy held several different positions. Most HP employees knew her as a Planner, scheduling materials for the Personal Printing Platforms division. She retired December 1, 2015. Kathy’s focus was always her family. In addition to her full time job at HP, she was the CEO of the Crowe residence. She always made sure every member was where they needed to be, on time, in clean clothes, and good health with lunch in hand. Self-sacrificial, always serving those around her out of love, her day was never done until her head hit the pillow. Kathy was active; she enjoyed sports and stayed in shape by walking and bike riding with her friends and husband. She walked 5 to 7 miles daily, walking during her lunch hour with HP friends and after work with her favorite walking partner, Dori Ratzlaff or husband. Kathy competed in several half-marathons every year up until she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2018. In addition to walking with friends, Kathy enjoyed riding bikes with her husband. Together they participated 3 years in the Reach the Beach fundraiser for the American Lung Association riding 30 miles to Pacific City on the Oregon coast. They would take their bikes to places like Portland and ride them downtown or on trails. One year she rode with her husband from their home in Corvallis by way of Peoria Road through Harrisburg, all the way to Eugene. They spent the night at a hotel in Eugene making the return trip home the following day. Kathy loved humor and had a contagious laugh. It was important for her to make others laugh and she loved it when others would make her laugh. She shared special connections with many friends. Kathy was warm, compassionate, and loved nicknames. In lieu of flowers Kathy would prefer a donation to Every Child Linn-Benton a nonprofit 501(c)(3) supporting foster children https://everychildlinnbenton.org/donate/. A celebration of life will take place in Corvallis at 10 am on September 5, 2020. Because of the pandemic environment it will be located at an outside venue with limited access. Spacing and face-mask requirements will be enforced. To help us control the size of the gathering please RSVP to kcrowe_celebration@outlook.com or join us for the live stream at https://youtu.be/fhf8OKg7iC4. Please leave your condolence messages for the family below.

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Kathy Crowe

November 30, 1954 - August 16, 2020