Kathleen (Kathy) Renee Hunsaker

Kathleen (Kathy) Renee Hunsaker was born in Hanford, Calif., on Sept. 29, 1967.

Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 10, 2021, at the Grandview Cemetery pavilion in Bonners Ferry.

When she was 6 years old she moved with her family to Bonners Ferry. Her first year of school was at Southside Elementary. She also attended Valley View Elementary, and graduated from Bonners Ferry High School in 1987.

While in high school Kathy had many close friends, participated in drill team and the BFHS choir. She was particularly found of teachers Donna Kent, Larry Van Gundy and Suzanne Chapin.

After high school, Kathy worked very hard at building an independent life. In 1990, she moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. There, she formed many strong friendships. In those years, she also explored her passion for certain hobbies. These included crafting, collecting porcelain dolls, fishing, movies and music from the 1970s and ’80s. Her encyclopedic knowledge of pop music and movie lore never ceased to amaze everyone around her.

In 2003, Kathy was diagnosed with Adult-Onset Myotonia Muscular Dystrophy. This progressively-debilitating disease threatened her mobility, but it never broke her spirit. She insistently owned her independence and never chose to focus on “what might be.” Instead, she simply enjoyed the moments at hand. During the last several years of her life Kathy was blessed with the loving care of several home health aides.

After a 15-day struggle in the Intensive Care Unit at Kootenai Medical Center, Kathy lost her battle with MD. She was under the constant brilliant, compassionate care of multiple medical professionals.

She gently slipped away on June 2, 2021, and she will be missed immeasurably.

Kathy is preceded in death by her son, Eric William Guier; and her grandparents, Jess and Rosa Garcia, and Marian Hunsaker.

Kathy is survived by her mother, Loretta Hunsaker; and brother, Jeff Hunsaker of Bonners Ferry; godparents, David and Theresa Freitas of Tulare, Calif.; uncle and aunt, Paul and Angie Avila of Lemoore, Calif., and uncle and aunt, Frank and Sherry Garcia of Tulare, Calif.; and countless cousins and friends.

In sincere gratitude for the care given to Kathy at KMC, memorials may be sent to: Kootenai Foundation-ICU, 2003 Kootenai Health Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; or www.Kootenaiheath.org.