Katherine "Kay" Lovelace Harken always insisted she would live to be over 100 years old, and so she has.  Kay died Monday, Feb. 26, 2001, at Aspen Meadows in Billings.

Kay was born Sept. 8, 1900, in St. Charles, Iowa, the daughter of James and Lora Cooley Kerns.  Two years later, her parents moved to a stock ranch near Parkman, Wyo., where Katherine spent her childhood with her six brother and sisters.

This was an interesting time during the early part of the last century, to live in rural America near the Crow Indian Reservation.  Kay has related many times her experiences and respect for the Crow people and other Plains Indians.

After graduating from high school in Sheridan, Wyo., Kay earned a permit from Dillon Montana Summer School to teach.  Some of those early years included teaching youngsters on the Crow Indian Reservation.  Her education in the teaching profession included three years of training at Eastern Montana College at Billings, Eastern Washington State University in Cheney, and Montana State University (summer school) at Bozeman.  She taught school for over 22 years, which included public schools in Colstrip and Hardin.

In 1926, Kay married Ralph Lovelace, a handsome cowboy, charismatic with a sense of humor, and thus they started a long and interesting and often challenging life as dry land ranchers during the Depression years of the late '20s and early '30s, the War years and beyond.  Most of those years were spent in the Castle Rock community near Colstrip; at that time, a pristine countryside with pine forests, huge sand rocks and red-rocked buttes juxtaposed amidst plains.

It was here that Kay and Ralph raised cattle, sheep, horses and crops of every kind.  They also raised two little girls, Lorna Kay and Margie Jo, who grew up with poignant memories of their parents, the roundups, sheep camps, haying, harvests and especially the old-time dances and community gatherings.  That heritage can never be forgotten.

Ralph died in 1968. In 1971, Kay married Rudy C. Harken, an attorney in Forsyth, where they lived for several years before moving to Sequim, Wash., to a home overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  This was a happy, peaceful time for Kay, and as she said in her own words, "I have to have quiet and peace to look out upon.  I've just exchanged the plains for the sea." Rudy was a wonderful man whose advice everyone sought out and whose children and grandchildren were such an integral part of Katherine's life. Both Kay and Rudy continued on with many interests and projects, including the carving of a large totem pole, which was prominently displayed in their front yard.  Rudy died in 1994 and Kay moved back to Billings, where she has lived since.

Katherine was a member of the Eastern Star , Delta Kappa Gamma, the Montana Institute of the Arts and PEO. She was deeply immersed in the fine arts.  She wanted to leave a legacy and so she has with her incredible woodcarvings, paintings, pen and ink sketches, braided rugs and her songs (especially her poetry).  Noted among her published works were "Prairie Sing-Songs" and "The Eagle's Cry."
 
Katherine is survived by her two daughter, Lorna Kortum and her husband Harold of Vantage, Wash., and Margie Dunbar and her husband Pete of Billings; five stepchildren; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Kay had great hopes for the future. In her own words, she said, "I hope for Universal peace among all mankind and the preservation of the natural beauty of the Earth, so that all children may experience some of the joy and happiness I knew as a child."

It was a wonderful life indeed, and we are all so grateful for her time with us.  From her book of poetry, "The Eagle's Cry," it seems only fitting that we remember the last verse, entitled, "Departure."

"In fantasy, I fly the airy miles Free as a weightless thistle-down is blown.  Float on the pathways of the cloudy isles and feel at peace with all the great Unknown.  Returning to my Lodge, there I shall dwell Facing the morning sun. This is farewell."