Kay Adean Kemmis

Kay Adean Kemmis, 82, passed away on Saturday, April 11, 2015 in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. He was born June 20, 1932 in Kalispell, MT to LeRoy D. Kemmis and Lorene I. (Moe) Kemmis. He was a preemie baby, but his dad said, “He’ll make it, he is a tuffy,” a nickname that stuck through his high school years. Memorial services will be conducted 11:00AM, Friday, April 17, 2015 at First Christian Church, with Dr. Tony Nelson, officiating. In 1939 the family moved to Libby, MT where Kay started school. He was the “Huckleberry Finn” of Libby, fishing, hunting, running a trap line, building a canoe to sail the Kootenai River, not to mention burying his sister’s jewelry on an island there. In 1946 the family moved to Sandpoint and Kay entered the 7th grade at Farmin School. He worked in any job he could find and in high school, delivered oil and worked at Welo’s gas station on the corner of 4th and Cedar. He was one of the few boys in high school who had a car. He always seemed to have his car full of girls! After graduation from Sandpoint High School in 1951 he left for Seattle, where he worked in his dad’s gas station, then in 1952 enlisted in the Navy. He was an electrons engineer and installed code gear in North Africa and Germany. He returned to Seattle following an honorable discharge from the Navy and worked for his dad again. In 1956 he married Oma Petrik. Three boys were born to this union: Kenny, Donald and Daniel. On a whim he qualified for and accepted a job with the Seattle Police Department. He held positions as a patrol officer, patrol car officer, criminalist, detective and was in charge of the motor pool until his retirement. The family enjoyed fishing, camping and sailing on his sailboat on Puget Sound. A motorhome and a fishing boat took them on many adventures. He also enjoyed hunting in Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming with his police buddies, brother-in-law Van Sawyer, and his nephews. After retiring from the Seattle Police Dept. he did security jobs in Oregon and California, built houses and worked on cars. He was a gun buff, collected cannons and could fix most anything. He loved teasing his granddaughter, Kaila, by telling her that he was a pirate. The teasing backfired as she believed him and told the story at school. This forced him to confess that he wasn’t really a pirate. In 2001 Kay attended his 50th class reunion and rekindled his friendship/romance with Marilla Wilson Schoonover. Son Don remembers seeing “this giddy young man burning the wheels back to Sandpoint.” Kay and Marilla were married October 20, 2001 at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch. They became known for their many adventures in the back country and enjoyed the cuisine in the area. Kay was very excited when he drew a moose tag his second year back, unfortunately he was not able to bag one. He enjoyed camping with the North Idaho Rainbow Chasers, lunch with the S.P.O.R.T.S. and attending First Christian Church every Sunday. Kay is survived by his wife, Marilla Kemmis, sons Donald R. (Susan) Kemmis, and Daniel R. Kemmis (Elsie Child), sister Val Sawyer, step-sisters Jeanette (Busso) Lemme and Sharon Morgan; and grandchildren Gregory Kemmis and Kaila Kemmis, step-children Sandy (Chris) Dawson, Bob (Heidi) Schoonover, Roley (Janice) Schoonover and step-grandchildren Danielle, Landon, Isaac, Libby, Tammy, Bill, Billy, Kara, Pamela, Paul, Jeff, Sabrina, Emily, Gabe, Kacey, Wyatt, Tristan, Isaac, Dacien, Kain, and Kael, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife Oma, son Kenny, brother Bode Kemmis and his parents.