Kathleen ‘Kaye’ Gidley

Kathleen “Kaye” Gidley, 92, died Feb. 14, 2004, due to the effects of a stroke. Kaye was born the sixth child of eight to Sarah and Walter Hatten in Fort Collins, Colo., Jan. 19, 1912. She was born premature and so tiny it was said her first crib was a shoebox.

Her determined spirit would serve her well throughout her long life. Her father died when she was young and her mother ran a boarding house to make ends meet. Kaye worked as a telephone operator early on until she met her first husband Bryant, with whom she had her oldest son Richard. The marriage did not last and she moved back to her mother’s with her young son. While ice skating on a pond during the winter of 1940, she met a handsome rascal of a Navy man by the name of Ernest Gidley whom she would marry and spend the next 53 years with. Kaye would have three children with Ernie and eventually would move everyone to Oak Harbor in 1955 and remain there until her death. Kaye settled into family life in Oak Harbor where they lived for a while at the Anderson farm at the bottom of Monkey Hill.

In 1960, the Gidley family purchased a home and moved into town. Kaye’s life was filled with helping others. Kaye gave thousands of hours of her time to charity organizations. She crocheted layettes for Navy Relief, donated gallons of blood to the Red Cross and walked for the March of Dimes. Kaye loved sports, especially football and basketball. She attended many Oak Harbor High School games and was eventually awarded a lifetime pass for her enthusiasm and support. In addition, Kaye was a 40-year member of Oak Leaf Rebekah Lodge and was a Noble Grand. In the 1960’s Kaye became a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church where she was a member of the library guild and for numerous years she was in charge of arranging volunteers to work at the Senior Center on Fridays serving meals.

Like so many women, Kaye’s life was centered around taking care of her family but one of the few things that she did for herself was to join a bowling league at Oak Bowl. She was able to enjoy this activity well into her 80s.

Kaye’s husband Ernie passed away in 1995. She is survived by four children: Richard Gidley of Palo Alto, Calif.; Gary Gidley of Prague, the Czech Republic; Gail Vogel of Oak Harbor and Gene Gidley of Portland, Ore. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 6, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.