Family thanks special Valley people

This is an open letter of thanks to the people of North Bend and Snoqualmie. Our mother, Katharine Hogness, died Thursday, Dec. 16, in Healdsburg, Calif., where she had been living with our brother for the past four years or so. Prior to that she lived with us for almost 14 years in North Bend. Soon after moving here she developed dementia and her world began to shrink. But because of the fine folks in North Bend and Snoqualmie, even though her world got smaller, it remained rich in friendship and compassion.

We would like to thank everyone who remembered her name and took time to chat with her when she came into town. It was indeed the bright spot of her day.

A special thanks is offered to Catherine Mitchell, whose role as caregiver to our mom almost immediately turned into a friendship that's light and love pierced her mental fog and sustained her to the end.

A special thanks also to Pam Bowling, LMP; Susan at the Bank of America; Mayor Ken at Scott's Dairy Freeze; Ellen at QFC; all the folks at Si View water workout; Dar at Carmichael's True Value; Greg at Isadora's; the serving staff at Denny's and the staff at the North Bend library.

You might not know the important role you played in the social fabric of Katharine's life. In a big city and even in many other towns, someone like our mom might have been invisible. But the good people of the Snoqualmie Valley helped her feel that she mattered.

Katharine and our whole family thank you all.

Suze Rutherford and

Jody Hazen

North Bend

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