Margaret Katheryn Salinas, 89, died at Madrona House on Bainbridge Island, Washington, on June 25, 2015.
Born Nov. 21,1925, in Temple, Texas, she was the youngest child of Jeff Pate and Margaret Wigginton Pate. She married James W. Salinas following his service to his country during World War II in 1947, and they had two children: James A. Salinas (Roxanne Belanger) and Martha Salinas Schoemaker (Douglas).
She had four grandsons, Bryson Salinas, Gerrit Salinas, Jeffrey Schoemaker and James Schoemaker, and one great-grandson, Ridley Salinas.
Katheryn’s parents preceded her in death, as did her daughter, Kathy Elaine, in 1947, her husband, Jim, in 1979, and her two brothers and five sisters.
Katheryn grew up on farms in Temple and Leona. In her youth she milked cows, churned butter, smoked grapevines in the barn, picked hundreds of pounds of cotton, watched for copperhead snakes while picking Muscadine grapes, swam with water moccasins in Mustang Creek, and was also baptized there.
She didn’t enjoy the luxuries of indoor plumbing or electricity until her teenage years. Typical Christmas gifts were fruit and one toy or item of clothing.
Her family attended the Baptist church and the Methodist church on alternate Sundays, depending on which seminary sent a student to preach that week. She played softball, volleyball and basketball and was the salutatorian of her Leona High School’s class of twelve.
Following high school, Katheryn attended Draughon’s Business College in Dallas, Texas, and worked as a legal secretary.
After she and Jim married, they lived the life of “doodlebuggers,” meaning they lived in numerous small towns following Jim’s job on an exploration crew for Mobil Oil Company.
In 1965 he went to work in the Mobil lab in Dallas, and the family moved to Irving, Texas, where they finally bought their own home. Following Jim’s death, Katheryn became confirmed as a Methodist and worked as a secretary at the University of Texas Health Science Center. She retired in 1990.
In subsequent years, Katheryn made several more moves to be near her children. We will always appreciate her desire not to become a burden. All told she lived in 29 homes during her lifetime, and her final move was to Bainbridge Island in 2012. We are grateful to the compassionate caregivers at Rio Terra in New Braunfels, Texas, Liberty Shores in Poulsbo, and Madrona House, as well as the wonderful people of Franciscan Hospice. She was often described as “feisty,” which has always been true, but she was well cared for and well loved and she loved well in return. Katheryn had an innate capacity for courtesy and kindness.
Private burial will take place in Irving, Texas. A memorial service was held July 10 at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Franciscan Foundation or the hospice organization of your choice.
