Hilda Kathleen Carr

Hilda Kathleen Carr passed away Dec. 18, 2016, due to complications from scleraderma, an auto-immune disease.

The third daughter of Alwin and Pauline Furst, Kathy was born in March 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. She met Navy man Martin Carr when she was 17, and he wooed her with the exciting New York life, dancing at the St. Regis Hotel, dining at the Waldorf Astoria, and they were soon married on July 1, 1961.

Kathy, a stay-at-home mom, and Martin, a New York police officer, had two sons, Christopher and Colin, and moved to New Jersey to raise the boys.

In August 1976, Martin was in a devastating motorcycle accident and was hospitalized for over a year. Martin’s inability to return to NYPD forced the family to make a transforming decision: they would move West. They were told North Idaho mountains were beautiful. With two packed Navy sea bags, and each family member equipped with a plate, knife, fork, and an extra pairs of clothes, they boarded a plane for Spokane. They arrived, rented a car, and bought five acres of land 10 miles up Rapid Lightning Road. They remained there the rest of their life.

Kathy gave up her family in New York, her way of life, and all she knew to create a new life for her husband and boys. Originally, the small acreage had nothing but a shell of a cabin: not even running water. Kathy hauled many buckets of water from the creek to the house. Together, over the years, the family built their cabin in the woods. Kathy was a courageous, hard-working wife and mother. People will remember her for her thick Brooklyn accent, red hair, quick laugh, perseverance, and deep faith in the Lord’s love. She was one of the sweetest women many knew and is well-fitted amongst the angels.

Kathy is survived by her husband of 56 years, Martin Carr; her two sons, Chris of Sandpoint, and Colin of Boise; her granddaughters, Mary and Mahala of Boise; her sisters, Pauline and Eleanor of New York; and many loving nieces, nephews, and extended family.

Kathy asked for no funeral service, and instead, asked that you spend time with and be kind to your loved ones.