Dec. 15, 1915 – April 4, 2016
Kathryn Elizabeth (Rhoads) McDuffie, 100, of Sweet Home died April 4, 2016.
She was born Dec. 15, 1915 in Seivert Township, Cavalier County, N.D. to Nathaniel Rutter and Connie Ruth (Cornwall) Rhoads.
She spent most of her childhood in North Dakota. She graduated from Northwestern Christian College in Minneapolis, Minn. in 1936. She later moved to the state of Washington with her family.
She was living in Colfax, Wash. when she met and married Donald Maynard McDuffie on April 1, 1945.
They moved to Bellingham in 1946 when Mr. McDuffie lost his eyesight. The McDuffies moved to Spokane, Wash. in 1954, to Olympia, Wash. in 1972, and then to Albany in 1981.
Mrs. McDuffie moved to Sweet Home in 2004 with her daughter and family. She recently moved to Butterfly Meadow Adult Foster Care in Lebanon.
Mrs. McDuffie was a dental assistant and held various office positions in the 1940s. She worked at Whitworth College, mainly in the library, from 1958 through 1969. She assisted her husband with his business from 1972 until his retirement in 1981.
After moving to Albany she joined Royal Neighbors and volunteered at the Albany Senior Center. She was a member of the Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. McDuffie is survived by her daughter, Karen Young; sister Myrna Manley; brother Arlin Rhoads; two grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.
She was preceded in death by her spouse, Donald McDuffie in 1986; infant son Douglas in 1946; three siblings, Nathalie Sanford in 2008, Conrad Rhoads in 2006, and John Rhoads in 2002; and her parents.
A family memorial service will take place this summer.
Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements. http://www.sweethomefuneral.com.