Kathy Halsan – October 18, 2025
Today we are broken hearted. We lost Kathy on Friday night and Nathan, Kirsten and I were all with her when she passed. She had seemed fine as we explored her family origin places in Norway a mere month ago but after returning we found she had a very aggressive form of cancer that had already spread.
A Special Education teacher for over 40 years she taught, helped and loved literally generations of children in our area. When seeing them on the street in our small town the greeting was always with a big smile “Teacher Kathy!!!”
After retirement she loved her work and friendships with the AAUW raising tens of thousands of dollars for scholarships through the annual book sale and in Expanding Your Horizons introducing youth to various career opportunities they might never have thought of.
We celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary in August and in those years we shared many adventures in America on family trips and going to business meetings at some of the countries finest resorts and all over Europe, even taking the kids on a Grand Tour from Rome to London.
We sure didn’t sit home. We got to meet many of my cousins in Norway (Love you all) and on this recent trip Kathy’s cousins as well.. unless you know your family in the “Old Country” you cannot imagine how wonderful those connections are.
50 years of family, kids, grand kids.. and adventures that few couples could imagine. Thank you Teacher Kathy. Love you always.
Oh, and less than 15 minutes later the Ms got a Grand Slam to go 3-2 in the ALCS. As a lifelong baseball fan maybe she had a hand in that. Next stop the World Series. Do it for her.
There will be no funeral or services at her request but later we will have a gathering of friends hopefully catered by Dawn’s. That was her desire.
Karen B. McInturff
December 6, 1938 – October 12, 2025
On October 12, 2025 Karen B. McInturff nee Duus beloved wife, mother and friend, passed away at the age of 86 years. Karen was born on December 6, 1938 in Vancouver, British Columbia. After graduation from Chilliwack High school in 1957, Karen earned her RN degree through Vancouver General Hospital in 1960. After serving a short time serving as a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital, she met Robert McInturff of Walla Walla, WA. They married on November 24, 1960 and were married 62 years. They raised two sons, David and Robert Jr.
Karen worked for years as a registered nurse at Centralia Medical Center in the office of Dr. Cornelia Van Prooyen. But once her two boys graduated from college and left home, she turned her attention to her real love: Art. She enrolled at Evergreen College and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.
Her art included works in stain glass, paintings in oil and acrylic and paper art. Her favorite medium by far was felt art. In this medium she created a surprisingly diverse set of art objects that included decorative wall hangings, expressive dolls, music boxes and even felt portraits. Her work was somewhat fanciful and she self-described as a “sublimely ridiculous” fiber artist.
Karen was known for her love of working in groups to achieve various artistic goals. She was a longtime member and participant in Centralia’s Art Trails programs through which she displayed her own art and introduced art to others, especially children. She was the featured resident artist at the Mineral Arts and Residencies (MARS) program in the summer 2016 where she worked and shared with a diverse group of artists and writers. She continued to create and share her art right up to the very end of her life.
Karen is survived by her two sons, David (Phyllis Izant) and Robert (Maria), and three grandchildren: Sophia, Wallace and Stuart. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests donations be directed to the Centralia Salvation Army. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at Mount Cross Lutheran Church in University Place, WA. Karen will be interred at Willamette National Cemetery next to her husband Robert.
Ine-Marie van Dam
November 25, 1947 – October 6, 2025
We are sorry to announce that branch member Ine-Marie van Dam passed away last week, a few days after a major stroke. Ine joined our branch during the pandemic and immediately jumped in to helping sort books between March and September 2020 when we delayed our book sale and had the big space where we could keep accepting books while we waited to hold the sale. Her mother was a Holocaust survivor and Ine presented a program on Zoom about her for us in February 2021. Our program was not recorded but a similar program that she presented elsewhere can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Mp5UNtZAg
Ine could speak at least 4 languages and traveled the world during her career as a translator, providing real-time translations in international meetings. She was always cheerful and brightened up everyone’s day with her big smile and the pink or green streaks in her light hair. She will be missed.
