Kathleen "Kate" Perkins

Kate Perkins, 76, passed away on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 in Emmett, Idaho.

  Kathleen Gayle Perkins was born June 9, 1948 in Emmett, Idaho to Alvin and Lucille Cornwall, smack dab between her two best friends: her loving sister and brother, Sharon and Brent.  
Descended from Mayflower passengers, Irish and Swedish immigrants and early pioneer settlers of the Treasure Valley, she was, according to the diary she kept in elementary and middle school, a good girl, crazy ‘bout Elvis.
  High school years were spent with close friends in fast cars, at movies and at dances, always having a raucous time. She left high school when she was seventeen to marry Jack Perkins and soon had Irish triplets, Paul, Jock, and Christopher, whom she taught, doted on, cared for, guided, and encouraged to do the hard things in life. 
  She, Jack and the boys moved frequently in the early years around Oregon and Washington, while Jack was pursuing an apprenticeship and career. It was in LaGrande, Oregon that she began working outside the home. Her first job was secretary to the principal of Central School, a job that abruptly ended when her boss found her hunting and pecking one of his letters on the typewriter, despite earlier assurances that she could type many, many, words per minute.  Probably because of her boldness, he promoted her:  she began managing the community schools program in the school district, teaching elementary students and their families to exercise, learn new skills and to dance and play.   
  In Elgin, Oregon she opened an art gallery to display her oil paintings and the works of local artists.  She then took over the town’s defunct community center and made it the heart of the community, restoring the swimming pool, holding Saturday night dances, Saturday afternoon movies, after-school programs, and art, craft and many other classes, all funded by grants she wrote and an annual auction that she organized.  It is a testament to her legacy that the community center remains true to its name fifty years later. 
  After moving to northern California, she taught for the Head Start program, worked as a mental health crisis worker, and joined the LDS church, where she was immediately called to leadership positions.  When the family moved to Baker in eastern Oregon, she was called to more leadership positions in her church and took over management of the Basche-Sage mall, filling it with artists and shops for the community.  She also taught preschool and helped start and raise funds for the Baker High School baseball team so that her boys could play their favorite sport during the school year. 
  When she wasn’t showing the professional world “a thing or two,” she was with her family, traveling to see her parents, sister, brother and their families, water skiing at Wallowa and Eagle Lakes and the Snake River above the Brownlee Dam, snow skiing at Spout Springs and Anthony Lakes, camping in the Elkhorn and Wallowa mountains, picnicking, cooking exotic meals, jogging, aerobicizing, painting oil landscapes on canvas, taking college classes, watching her boys’ baseball games, and researching her family history; but most of all, caring for, teaching and guiding her boys, and always speaking to them in superlatives; telling them that they were the nicest, strongest, smartest, fastest, best-looking boys around.  
  There was a soundtrack to her life and it was unapologetically 1970's: the Eagles, Carly Simon, Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, John Prine and CCR.  When she wasn’t listening to them, she was blasting “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar” at plus 10 for all the neighbors to hear.
  After her boys left home, she and Jack moved to the Oregon coast, where she became a social worker for Child Protective Services.  She later became a legal investigator, traveling the country, interviewing witnesses, compiling reports, and testifying in the State’s most serious criminal cases. 
  Her professional accomplishments were impressive, even for someone with a post-graduate degree.  She didn’t finish high school.  
  She was whip-smart, quick-witted, well-read and big-hearted.  She believed that everyone deserved her respect, regardless of race, color, gender, age, sexual orientation or ability.  That is, unless someone did something “uncalled for” to her boys.  Then she “gave them hell.”  She was her boys’ fiercest and most loyal defender.
  She was a loving aunt, cousin and sister-in-law to many, but lived for and loved being a grandma.  She rained down gifts on her grandchildren.  She read, sewed special clothes, and played catch with them, bought them hamburgers and milkshakes, taught them to draw and paint, and held tea parties and constructed doll houses with them.  She was beloved by her grandchildren, especially for warming towels in the dryer for them when they arose from their baths.
  She and Jack eventually divorced and she moved back to her hometown of Emmett, where she quickly rounded up old and new friends who were always together at dinners, parties, concerts and trips throughout the Pacific Northwest.   
  It was her powerful brain that first began to show signs of wear. She received a diagnosis of mid-stage dementia despite her age and otherwise excellent health.  She accepted her fate, cruel as it was, residing in her home with the help of many loving and devoted caregivers, until it became time to move into a nursing facility, The Cottages, where she received excellent care.  Her seemingly boundless heart gave out late in the morning of August 13, 2024, just after being bathed, dressed, having her hair brushed and braided, and being seated for a morning meal, just like a Queen mother.
  She was preceded in death by her loving parents and devoted sister, Sharon. She is survived, mourned and will be continually loved by family and friends too numerous to mention in a publication that might charge us by the word, but they include her brother and his wife, Brent and Fatima; her boys, Paul, Jock and Chris, and their families: Denise, Maddy, and Max (Paul); Garrett, Allie, Sydney, Gabe, and Gavin (Jock); and Kasie, Krista, and Michael (Chris); her grandchildren, Stella, Huckleberry, Leevy, Kinsley, and Kash; her nephew, Tony; her nieces, Shelby, Tayla, Vanessa, Leah, and Erin; her brothers and sisters-in-law and their spouses, Roy, Dale and Sue, Tom and Rich, Steve, Patty, Sandy and Jim, and Heidi and Rick; and her former husband and his partner, Jack and Laura.  
  The family will receive guests Friday, August 23, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Potter Funeral Chapel in Emmett, Idaho.  Her funeral will be held there the following day, Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 11:00 am, followed by a procession to the Emmett Cemetery for a graveside service.  A small reception with charcuterie and beverages will follow at the Fireplace Area in Emmett City Park.  Everyone is welcome to all of these events and is encouraged to wear something bright, preferably bold, as she no doubt would have wanted.  
  It is customary to suggest a donation to a charitable organization in lieu of flowers, but her boys beg your forbearance and welcome flowers, which Kate loved; floral arranging being one of her many avocations.
  We hope you are listening, Mom. You were the best mother any child could hope to have. We love you. We are devastated. We lost you twice. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Kathleen "Kate" Perkins, please visit our floral store.