Catherine "Kay" Bruckner, age 93, passed away in the early morning hours, June 1st. She was the youngest in a family six. Kay was born in Passaic, New Jersey on November 23, 1919. After her father, a saloon owner, mysteriously drowned, the family moved to Culver City, California. Their house faced the back-lot of MGM studios. Both her sisters and brother found work there shortly after they arrived while Kay was still in her teens.
In her twenties Kay worked for Ma Bell as a switch board operator. There she met her husband of 61 years, Donald Bruckner. They moved into a small apartment in Santa Monica, CA in the hope of starting a family. After numerous disappointments, their "miracle child" Timothy was born, named after Kay's favorite priest.
In 1957 they bought their first home in Gardena, CA where they lived for thirty years. During that time, Kay worked on the assembly line at Hughes Aircraft. After her retirement, she was free to explore her creative nature. She'd always enjoyed knitting, but without the constraints of the work place, she took to it with a renewed passion. She loved gardening, was a talented seamstress and often made her own clothes. She spent endless hours working needlepoint and cross stitch.
Christmas was her favorite time of year. Her love of the Holiday never left her. She enjoyed baking cookies, decorating the house and doing up the tree, hanging the tinsel one strand at a time until it shimmered with Christmas spirit. She was a devoted Christmas card sender and would spend weeks selecting and addressing special cards, being sure to add a personal note of thoughtfulness and caring to each recipient.
After their first grandchild was born, Don and Kay moved to Amery in 1989, where Kay blossomed. A new house she loved, grandchildren she adored, a son and daughter-in-law who gave her a sense of family and a community she felt truly a part of. A home at last.
In her new town, she learned Hardanger, continued cake decorating, joined a birthday club, took part in neighborhood block parties and enjoyed family and friends.
A devout Catholic, Kay's faith sustained her, uplifted her, brought her comfort and instilled in her a lifelong compassion. She said her rosary, read the bible and said special prayers for family and friends living or deceased every day.
"To each their own," she often said. And she meant it. If your beliefs were different from hers, if your lifestyle was not something she agreed with, whatever your race or religion, if you were kind and loving, you were okay with Kay. And she lived by that until the day she died.
Catherine W. Bruckner is survived by her son Tim, his wife Mary and her grandchildren Errol and Anne.
A memorial service will be held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Amery at 11:00 am, Thursday, June 6th. There will be a Visitation one hour prior to the service and a Visitation, Wednesday, June 5th, 4 pm to 7 pm, at Williamson-White Funeral Home. www.williamsonwhite.com. The family requests any donations be made to the Amery Public Library in Catherine's name.