March 19, 2023
by Aquila Brown
We lost Kathryn Illback on March 8th, 2023 and we are devastated. There is little sense or understanding in the loss of someone so beautiful and kind being suddenly and completely gone.
Her family describes her as the sun they orbited around, her warmth and kindness seen and felt everywhere. Her friends and chosen family know her to be smart, positive, adventurous, and open hearted. She tried so hard to be what everyone around her needed. She was unselfish because that's who she was and not because people were watching or a promise of something better in the next life. In every situation Kathryn chose to be the good in the world. She traveled, she read, she hiked, she loved cookies and cheese, sometimes together. Her plants, pets and people thrived around her.
Kathryn believed Spokane deserved good library services and she strode to provide that. Fluent in reading and speaking Japanese she nurtured the love of anime and manga in a generation of Spokane teens through Anime and Pokemon clubs as an information specialist at Spokane County Library District. She helped dramatically increase storytime attendance for Spokane Public Library during her time as a early learning specialist, resulting in storytime attendance accounting for more than 70% of the library system's overall program attendance numbers. Her eyes clearly showed the joy the children and families who attended her storytimes provided. She was a positive force in so many lives.
Mourning her loss and celebrating Kathryn's life are her son Isaiah Hardin, fiancé Cody Liddicoat, parents Carol and James Illback, siblings Brandon and Mary Illback, and puppies Cupcake and Broly. Her friends and family invite you to remember and share your own stories at a memorial service on Sunday, April 30th, 2023, 2:00 pm at Ft. Mukogawa, 4320 W. Owens Ridge Road, Spokane.
In lieu of flowers, her family asks you to consider supporting Reach Out and Read, https://reachoutandread.org, a non-profit that works to get books into the homes of children.
"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/spokesman/name/kathryn-illback-obituary?id=51024078
Her family describes her as the sun they orbited around, her warmth and kindness seen and felt everywhere. Her friends and chosen family know her to be smart, positive, adventurous, and open hearted. She tried so hard to be what everyone around her needed. She was unselfish because that's who she was and not because people were watching or a promise of something better in the next life. In every situation Kathryn chose to be the good in the world. She traveled, she read, she hiked, she loved cookies and cheese, sometimes together. Her plants, pets and people thrived around her.
Kathryn believed Spokane deserved good library services and she strode to provide that. Fluent in reading and speaking Japanese she nurtured the love of anime and manga in a generation of Spokane teens through Anime and Pokemon clubs as an information specialist at Spokane County Library District. She helped dramatically increase storytime attendance for Spokane Public Library during her time as a early learning specialist, resulting in storytime attendance accounting for more than 70% of the library system's overall program attendance numbers. Her eyes clearly showed the joy the children and families who attended her storytimes provided. She was a positive force in so many lives.
Mourning her loss and celebrating Kathryn's life are her son Isaiah Hardin, fiancé Cody Liddicoat, parents Carol and James Illback, siblings Brandon and Mary Illback, and puppies Cupcake and Broly. Her friends and family invite you to remember and share your own stories at a memorial service on Sunday, April 30th, 2023, 2:00 pm at Ft. Mukogawa, 4320 W. Owens Ridge Road, Spokane.
In lieu of flowers, her family asks you to consider supporting Reach Out and Read, https://reachoutandread.org, a non-profit that works to get books into the homes of children.
"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/spokesman/name/kathryn-illback-obituary?id=51024078