Obituary of Kathryn Riddell

A Life Well Lived Kathryn (Kay) Gamble Riddell 1927-2017 Kay Riddell took her last breath peacefully surrounded by family and caregivers at Tall Pines Retirement Residence in Belfast Maine January 3, 2017. How does one condense a life as rich and full as Kay’s? We can only hint. Kay was born in St. Louis MO in 1927, raised in Peoria Illinois, frequently spending summers with Latzer family in Highland Illinois, at Crystal Lake in Michigan, or summer camp in Minnesota. She graduated from Carleton College in 1949, and in 1950 she married Robert (Bob) Riddell, Jr., a theoretical physicist. After Bob completed his PhD, they moved to Berkeley California, where Bob worked his entire career for the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. As the family grew to include three children, Cindy, Steve and Jim and an assortment of dogs, she found time and skill to organize frequent family outings and trips to the hills, mountains, and eventually exploring America and the world. She conveyed to all of us a deep love of nature, serving many years as Girl Scout Leader, and when the Oakland Museum of California opened she was in the first class of docents in Natural Sciences (eventually adding History and Museum-wide tours). It was a role she loved for decades, stopping only when her declining mobility in later years made it too difficult. She volunteered as much as she could, including such efforts as Berkeley Day Nursery and the Chinquapin Branch for Child Welfare. As the children moved out, she and Bob found many new interests together. In 1973, they began constructing a magnificent landscape garden at their home in El Cerrito CA, which they continued to develop for 30 years with hands in the dirt and an astounding variety of plants. Gardening became a lifelong passion, with emphasis on interesting plants from Rhododendrons to “Southern Hemisphere Plants”. This led to many travels and tours visiting gardens around the world. She served gardening more broadly by volunteering with the El Cerrito Garden Club, the Native Plant and Rhododendron Societies, and the revival of the world-class University of California Botanical Garden. Throughout their adult lives, Kay and Bob always held active roles at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. They participated and served in many different leadership positions within the church, establishing lifelong friendships, especially through “Alden Club”. Kay was involved with programs at both Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union, where Bob served on the boards. Her deep love of history led her to take special interest in supporting the Bade Museum of Biblical Archaeology at PSR. Mom had a deep commitment to the importance of education, social justice and seeing to it that everyone had the opportunity for a satisfying and meaningful life. Beyond supporting quality schools and institutions, she had a particular interest in history. She loved to read, and nearly always was in the midst of reading multiple historical books and articles. These were often vignettes—stories of how it was for people both extraordinary and ordinary, through various eras of the past. In later years living at Lake Park Retirement Residence (LP) in Oakland, as physical involvement in projects like the LP gardens became more difficult, Kay turned to philanthropy. She worked through the San Francisco Foundation to support protection for the remaining wild and natural places around the Bay Area. She initiated a Youth Access to Nature Fund and helped the Foundation expand support of projects that give children and youth the opportunity to experience, appreciate, love, and protect the beauty, wonder and wisdom of the natural world. In 2007 she donated land the family owned for 40 years near Healdsburg, CA to LandPaths of Sonoma County. LandPaths now owns and manages the “Riddell Preserve” for its spectacular ecological diversity and beauty, as well as the educational and scientific value of this unique property. Finally, in 2016, as her health and mobility declined, she got the idea to take one final adventure, and moved to Belfast Maine to be near her daughter Cindy and Cindy’s husband Jim. Over Kay’s last months, she and Cindy shared many precious hours reminiscing over the course of a life well lived. She touched so many lives with her determination, generosity, capability, and ready smile. She will be missed. Kay was predeceased by her son Stephen Louis Riddell and her husband Robert James Riddell, Jr., and is survived by daughter Cynthia R Dunham, son James Riddell, and grandchildren Tyler and Silas Dunham, and Kristin Riddell. In lieu of flowers, gifts will be gratefully appreciated by any of the organizations mentioned above. A celebration of Kay’s life is being contemplated for the spring in California.