Obituaries in Great Falls, MT | Great Falls Tribune (2024)

The rollicking good times of Katharine Lenore Kalafat came to its final conclusion on March 8, 2024, in Great Falls, MT the only way it could have, in the loving presence of her devoted children surrounding her bedside.

Katharine was born in Los Angeles, CA on November 16, 1934, to Dudley and Kittie Shumway. She grew up soft in North Hollywood with her sister, Rita, and her youth was marked by the glamour of celebrities, attending the Oscars, and mingling at dinner parties with movie stars and singers. Her heart once fluttered to the rhythm of a romance with the son of the legendary crooner, Bing Crosby. Upon graduating North Hollywood High, she followed her boyfriend north to Pullman, WA to attend WSU, where her life took a dramatic turn. She met and fell in love with the antithesis of all she had known, a rough and tumble Montana boy. A golden gloves boxer and Cougar Defensive End, Ron Kalafat. And everything she knew about the easy life, warm weather, and sandy shores went out the door.

They both left school and Ron took his fiancé home to Montana. Soon they were married in 1955, at Saint Ann’s Church in Great Falls, and the Hollywood girl soon found herself on the edges of the Bob Marshall wilderness as co-owner and operator of a hunting ranch, hauling ice cold pails of water from the creek to the cook house where she’d prepare breakfast and dinner and make bunks up for hunters or Dude’s as they were referred to in those times. The cold, the snow, the changing seasons, the hard work, and hearing tall tales from entertaining characters – she loved all of it, every single minute of it. To her it was an adventure. She would make her home in Montana for the next 70 years, never to return to California except for an occasional visit. She loved the changing of the seasons and the way people in Montana treated each other.

She quickly adapted to life in the rugged country, and they settled in Great Falls. She had four kids – Jody, Jim, Jane, and Joe. Ron and Kathy divorced in 1981, and although he said she never cooked a good meal in all that time and she said he never could figure out which way was up, they remained lifelong friends. Facing the changing circ*mstances, she handled it the way she handled all things in her life, with a smile on her face and undaunted determination. She completed her college degree at UGF to pursue her calling, which was thought to be that of a teacher. Kathy taught for the next 25 years at St. Joseph’s, Emerson, Mountain View, and Valley View and made numerous life-long friendships with so many of her colleagues. But her true calling was not that of teacher but was always of being a mother. In fact, she won the title “world’s greatest mother” a record 63 times. That’s a fact. And she had many t-shirts and coffee mugs to prove it.

She bought a house in Riverview shortly after her divorce and made her kids the primary focus of her life. Of course, she hadn’t counted on those 4 kids being wild hellions bent on being hard to handle. But, like she handled all things with grit, calmness, and strength she handled them and kept them (mostly) in line. When her oldest child, Jody, was nearly killed in a car accident in high school she held her family together through dark times and instilled in her kids the closeness of family, of fortitude, of resilience, and how to smile through a broken heart.

Kathy had many incredible characteristics that would describe her; happy, classy, determined, stubborn, resilient, courageous, intelligent, and funny. But not all her characteristics were so glowing. One of her nicknames was that of the “finger lady” because she liked to give the bird to unsuspecting, f*ckless drivers. Many mistakenly thought she wasn’t judgmental, but that wasn’t true. She just disguised her judgment as friendly input such as “that’s the color of green you like, then?” or “Are you going back to finish your haircut?” and she loved to have you pack your bags and go on a guilt trip with quips like, “it’s okay, you don’t have to come for the holidays. I enjoy being alone.” Don’t worry, she would find all of this hilarious.

Our mother was the most amazing combination of joy, strength, grace, poise, and laughter mixed with a side of spiciness and stubbornness. Her life ended bathed in the love of her children and gratitude for such an amazingly rich, happy, and joyous life. A celebration of life will be held this summer, the specific date to be announced by the family at a later time.

She was preceded in death by her father; mother; sister; numerous cousins; and her ex-husband, Ron. She is survived by her children, Jody of Great Falls, Jim (Tonya) of Denver, Jane (Gary Burford) Davidson of NC, and Joe (Kara) of Missoula; numerous grandchildren, Katie, Cole, Bree, Garrett, Bridger, Jack, and Bodie; along with great grandchildren, Landon and Noa. Our hearts will forever be missing her, but full of gratitude that we got so much of her while she lived.