Mary Kathryn (Katzy) Bier

Mary Kathryn (Katzy) Bier, 88, passed away on Monday, Jan. 9, 2007, in Moses Lake.

Katzy was born the youngest of 13 children, raised and educated in Valley Park, Mo., where her father was the mayor. The family eventually moved to St. Louis, Mo., where Katzy worked as a receptionist at her oldest brother's automotive business and there she met her husband, Charles (Salty) Bier. They married in St. Louis, Mo., in 1944 and later moved to Peoria, Ill., then to Salem, Ore., where they raised their three daughters.

Homemaking and child-raising were not simply careers for Katzy, they were her passion and her life. She had a deep and abiding love for God and was a fervent prayer warrior for her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Katzy was an active parishioner of St. Therese's Catholic Church in Salem, Ill., where she was involved in the Avila League Women's Organization for many years.

Widowed in 1988, Katzy ultimately, years later, made the decision to leave her home and friends in Salem and moved to Royal City to be near family. She became a resident of the Hearthstone Retirement Inn where staff and residents quickly became her cherished friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Bernadine Young, her husband of 44 years, Charles; her brothers, Milton, Charles, William, Lee, Joseph, and John, and her sisters, Celeste and Marie. She was also preceded in death recently by her great grandson Gregory Stark.

She is survived by her daughters Mary Evrard (James) of Kingwood, Texas, Susan Gimby (Paul) of Olivenhain, Calif., and Barbara Stark (Mike) of Royal City; grandchildren, James Evrard, Jeffrey Evrard, Lisa Lovoi, Douglas Gimby, Allyson Yarbrough, Mike Stark, Colleen Bell, Tara Cloutier; and nine great children.