Margaret Kathleen Pate

Jan. 27, 1953- Jan. 11, 2019

Margaret Kathleen Pate, 65, died Jan. 11, 2019, at home in Homer.

”Kathy passed away on the morning of Jan. 11, just as the sun peeked over the mountains she loved so much. She closed her eyes for the final time in her home, surrounded by her family,” her family wrote.

Kathy was born to Daniel and Margaret Eagan on Jan. 27, 1953. She was the first of four children and would soon be joined by Peter, Susan and Gary. The initial 23 years of her life were spent growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska. with many of her summer days spent on Fairbanks Creek and the family cabin at Harding Lake. She was blessed with beautiful red hair and sparkling blue eyes, an external beauty that was only exceeded by the beauty of her spirit. She was an excellent student and a voracious life long reader, graduating from Monroe Catholic High School and then attending the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

In the Spring of 1975, while working on the Alyeska Pipeline project, Kathy met her future husband, John Michael Pate, while at Prospect Creek Camp, just above the Arctic Circle. On Jan. 27, 1976 they were married at Immaculate Conception Church in Fairbanks and, after a two month honeymoon in Fuji and driving literally around the United States, they moved to Homer, Alaska. where they built a small home and began to build a family business together. In March of 1983 their first child, Erin Kathleen, was born, later to be followed by Kelsey Rae and finally Michael Eagan.

No one was ever more dedicated to her family than Kathy. Whether it was serving on virtually every school site council in Homer, attending every sporting event from preschool through her children’s college years, or insisting on no less than semi-annual family gatherings, her family’s well being was always her first concern.

She was also by any measure a “woman for all seasons.” She served as a board member for the Homer Council of the Arts for well over 20 years. She loved to travel, and her passports were filled with visas and stamps from dozens of countries across the world. She was a self taught master chef — there was none better. She was an accomplished and acclaimed dancer, although she never had a formal lesson. She was an exceptional athlete, whether climbing the hills of Kachemak Bay or launching her kayak into the blue waters of the open ocean. Driving all of her ambitions was always an intrinsic desire to continually learn and explore.

“And now she has departed this world, and we are all faced with the loss and the struggle to fill the emptiness we must acknowledge,” her family said. “She would know we will turn to the myriad of memories she gave to us over the years as a means of healing. She would tell us to embrace one another for support when in need. But she would also insist we move forward, greeting each new day with anticipation and thanks. She would expect no less, she would accept no less.”

Margaret Kathleen Pate was preceded in death by her father, Daniel Francis Eagan; her father-in-law, John Allen Pate, and her mother-in-law, Margret Rae Pate.

She is survived by her husband, John Michael Pate; by her children, Erin Kathleen Rosenberg (husband Jake, children Keagan and Olive); Kelsey Rae Pate (child Tristan); Michael Eagan Pate; her mother, Margaret Eagan; her sister, Susan Brown (husband Dean, children Derek, Meagan, and Emily); her brothers, Peter (wife Robin, children Danny, Kelly and Patty) and Gary (wife Tari, children Gregory, Taylor and Brad); as well as her sister-in-law Patty Owens (husband Jerry, child Jason), and a wealth of true and valued friends.

A small service was held at St. John’s Catholic Church in late January. This summer a celebration of Kathy’s life will be held at the family home. We will wait until the world is in bloom and her gardens are full. Afterward her ashes will be taken to the family cabin at Bear Island and they will be buried in a little grove of birch trees, facing the water and the mountains, where the morning sun will forever find her.