Longtime Moscow-area resident Kathleen Orr Porter Warnick, 90, died Aug. 19, 2013, at her home in Moscow. She lived an active and independent life until June of this year, but then a fall in her apartment broke four ribs and started a cascade of age-related complications that resulted in her death.
Kathleen was born on Sept. 27, 1922, in the home of her parents, Samuel Culbertson Orr and Margaret Peebles Orr, outside Buhl, Idaho, where they operated a fruit orchard. Samuel was an ordained Presbyterian minister who had come to Idaho from Pennsylvania in 1909 to help establish the church in Buhl. Margaret was born in Glasgow, Scotland. They met on a transatlantic steamer in 1908 and married in 1919.
Kathleen graduated from Buhl High School in 1939 and from the University of Idaho in 1943. She earned a master's degree in home economics and biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1945. That same year, she married John J. Porter, a veterinarian working toward an advanced degree at the University of Wisconsin. In 1946, their son, John R. "Jack" Porter, was born, but three months later, John J. Porter was killed by a drunk driver. Kathleen then moved back to Buhl to live with her parents. She taught in the Buhl public schools for three years.
In 1949, Kathleen returned to Moscow as a research scientist at the UI. In 1952, she married Calvin C. Warnick, a member of the UI civil engineering faculty. Their marriage continued until Cal's death in 1996 and resulted in four more sons - David, Tom, Paul and Ned Warnick. A daughter, Alice, was stillborn during the interval between the births of David and Tom.
Kathleen was active in a broad range of civic, educational and artistic organizations. She was a close observer of the Moscow School Board, served on the state board of the League of Women Voters and conducted statewide workshops on school funding and taxation. She served on the Latah County Planning and Zoning Commission for 29 years and helped organize the Southeast Moscow Water and Sewer District. She helped organize the UI Home Economics Alumni Association and continued to volunteer at the Leila Old Historic Costume Collection until shortly before her death.
Kathleen helped organize the Appaloosa Lace Guild and was lead author of the book "Legacy of Lace: Identifying, Collecting and Preserving American Lace" (Crown Publishers, 1988). She became an authority on the history and symbolism of the stained glass windows at the Moscow First Presbyterian Church, where she also designed and created several seasonal banners.
In 1988, Kathleen and Calvin donated the building that became the offices of the Latah County Historical Society at 327 E. Second St.
Kathleen received the UI Home Economics Distinguished Alumni Award in 1982, the Jim Lyle UI Alumni Award in 1995 (jointly with Calvin) and an Orchid Award from the Moscow Historic Preservation Commission in 2002.
Kathleen is survived by her five sons, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Her children and their spouses are Jack and Cathy Porter of Moscow; David and Nikki Warnick of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Tom Warnick and Nicola Metcalf of Sunderland, Mass.; Paul and Barbara Warnick of Moscow; and Ned Warnick of Pullman. She was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Joan Miller in Denver Colo., and Margaret Crane in Bellevue, Wash.; her daughter Alice; and her two husbands, John Porter and Calvin Warnick.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Moscow First Presbyterian Church.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences Fund, in care of the University of Idaho Foundation, 875 Perimeter Drive, MS 3147, Moscow, ID 83844-3147, or to another charity of the donor's choice.
