Kathryn Kear Blasdel
Kathy Blasdel, 61, passed away November 29, 2022 at a Boise hospital surrounded by her closest family.  A service will be held at Bowman Funeral Chapel on December 16th at 2pm.  Kathy was born in Wichita, Kansas on October 3, 1961.  Her grandparents, aunt and uncle were special people in her early years.  She had a love of music which began with her singing in the church’s Cherub Choir as a 5-year-old and continued as she played the organ in elementary school and beyond.  The daughter of a Navy man, she lived in Wichita until her family moved to Charleston, SC in 1968, and then back to Wichita from 1970-74.  The family, including Kathy and her younger brother Adam, then moved to Gansevoort, NY, outside Saratoga Springs, where she attended 8th and 9th grades.  The final move took the family to Boise, where she went to high school at Capital High as a sophomore in 1976, graduating with the class of 1979.  Kathy then attended the University of Idaho briefly in 1979-80.  In spite of her multiple moves of her childhood, many of the friends she made in elementary, junior high and high schools, and in college became lifelong friends.
Kathy returned to Boise after the University of Idaho and attended Boise State University for a semester before marrying her high school sweetheart, Barry Estes, in 1980.  She became an Air Force wife and the newly wedded couple relocated to North Carolina.  Their daughter, Tabitha, was born there in 1981 and the three moved back to Boise six weeks later.  Barry was then stationed in Turkey, and Kathy and her daughter lived with Barry’s parents in Boise until his return in 1983.  The young family was then stationed in Denver, CO where her youngest child, Bryan, was born.  In 1988, the family was stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.  Kathy babysat the neighborhood kids and managed the bakery at the base Commissary until the family moved back to Denver in 1992.  She worked at the AFB gas station in Denver until the base closed and her husband retired in 1993. The family settled their new civilian lives in their hometown of Boise.
With her kids in junior high and high school, Kathy began her career in lighting sales at Grover’s Pay and Pack.  She developed a strong love of lights in this career and became quite an expert in her field. She also worked at Builder’s Lighting and Alloway Lighting until her health took a turn and she was unable to work any longer.  She often said the most rewarding part of her job was helping first-time home buyers find lighting solutions on a limited budget.  The friendships she made during her employed time continued long after she stopped working.  With some new free time, Kathy was able to spend more time with the people so important to her in her life: her three grandchildren!  Family dinners with her parents, children and grandchildren were always a treat. She also had more time to spend with her best friend – her former mother-in-law, Beverly Estes.  Kathy had maintained a forty-year friendship with her mother in-law, and the two of them loved to spend time together, including movies and even the occasional trip to the casino, until Bev’s passing in April 2022.
Kathy battled many health issues in the last years of her life, but she was strong and brave through all of it.  She was a ray of sunshine, joyful, and kind to every single person she ever encountered.  She was a lifelong lover of music (especially David Bowie!), hot baths, puzzles, and being with friends and family.  She was playful and fun, celebrating her adult birthdays by doing things like skydiving, a hot air balloon ride, or roller-skating.  Kathy even took a solo trip to Roswell, New Mexico to visit the alien museum and stay at the Little Alie-Inn.  She was a caring and supportive daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and friend.  Kathy was always an important part of her larger, loving extended family, and will be remembered for her love of life.
Kathy is survived by her parents, Donald and Rebecca Blasdel of Boise, ID, her daughter Tabitha Smith and husband Marc of Eagle, ID, and her son Bryan Estes and his wife Caitlin of Nampa, ID.  She is also survived by three grandchildren: Katy, Carter, and Kyra.  She was preceded in death by her younger brother, Adam.  She also leaves behind many, many loving friends spanning her entire lifetime.