Kathleen Mccann

Kathleen Marie McCann passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by loved ones, on August 23, 2024.

Kathleen was born on February 27, 1952, in New York City, the third of six children and the beloved, fearless and spirited daughter of Joseph and Rosemary McCann. Her love of nature developed in childhood from the woods, fields and creeks she explored near her home in Chevy Chase, MD. She spent the last years of her childhood in suburban Philadelphia, the final stop on her formation as a fast-talking, fast-walking northeasterner, with a big laugh and a beautiful smile.

In 1975, the year after graduating from Manhattanville College, she was accepted to serve in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Portland, Oregon. She raised her four children there until 1990, when she moved with her family to Silverton. She loved living on “Danger Hill” for the more than thirty years that followed, so much so that she convinced two of her best friends to move to

either side of her.

In the mid-90s, she received her master’s degree in pastoral studies from Seattle University, a natural course of study for someone who had been ministering her whole life – directing food bank operations, as community connector for Silverton Together, and later as a social worker, ospital chaplain and finally, as board member at Silverton Area Community Aid (SACA). She was a healing and stoic presence to people during life's most trying times.

One of Kathleen’s proudest achievements was single-handedly putting her four children through college. When her youngest daughter graduated in 2010, Kathleen’s friend John, with whom she’d worked in the 1990s at SACA, wrote her a card: “You did it, kid.” It’s been taped to her bedroom mirror ever since.

Kathleen was a fanatical athlete. She loved running, biking, yoga and swimming, planning her days and weeks around her non-stop exercise routine. She never suffered through a workout -- it was her delight, something that made her whole. She loved when the roof was taken off the pool downtown and she could do her laps with that elusive Oregon sun sometimes shining from above. Her running route took her past cornfields, covered bridges and Silver Creek. She biked all over the Willamette Valley and beyond with her husband, sister, and her many cyclist friends, passing the valley's flower fields, vineyards and hazelnut farms.

Kathleen was also the life of the party – and oh the parties she threw, always making meaning out of moments, big and small. She loved to make things an occasion, bringing out special decor, delicious food, and ornate costumes. From a young age, this bossy big sister would organize the younger kids into parades and dress-up parties. Later in life, she enjoyed celebrating traditional holidays, as well as myriad others, like solstice, “Festivus,” Epiphany, and “Bruschetta.” Over 28 years, she and her neighbors and friends shared over 1,350 weekly potluck meals together, what she called her true "communion."

Kathleen had endless curiosity, an insatiable appetite for adventure, meeting new people, traveling. She cried tears of joy when she crossed the border into Arkansas during a 2010 road trip, her last of the 48 contiguous states to visit. She celebrated having traveled to all 50 states in Hawaii a few years later. She loved camping by the majestic Metolius River and rushing

through the streets of Manhattan like a native. She traveled to Vietnam, Colombia, South Korea, Japan, India, and more -- all in her later years.

Kathleen leaves behind her beloved husband of 21 years, Michael M. Murphy, as well as her children—Patrick Thompson, Alex Thompson, Samantha McCann, Genevieve Collier– and stepsons Barry Murphy, Casey Murphy, and Ryan Murphy. She is also survived by her siblings—James McCann, Maureen McCann Waldron, Joe N. McCann, and Eileen McCann—and 10 grandchildren. Kathleen was predeceased by her parents and brother, John McCann.

Kathleen will be remembered at a celebration of life on October 26 in Silverton. In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial contributions to Silverton Area Community Aid "Kathleen McCann Memorial Fund.”