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Katherine Elizabeth Finnell
1941 - 2021
Katherine Finnell passed away in San Diego on November 2, at the age of 80. Born March 29, 1941 in Los Angeles, she was the eldest child of Donald and Mabel Schelling. She grew up in various Southern California communities, where her father built houses and her mother worked as a beautician and broker. Kathy attended Vista High School and then San Diego State University where she majored in accounting. Upon graduation, she became one of the first women hired as an accountant by the CPA firm Peat Marwick Mitchell &Co. (now KPMG) in Los Angeles. She took pride in having passed the state board of accountancy exam on her first try.  It was at KPMG she would meet her husband, Jerry, whom she married in 1963. She retired from the firm to raise her two children in Glendale, however she would continue to apply her accounting skills on behalf various nonprofit organizations through much of her life.
Kathy was eventually uprooted from California when her husband was promoted to manage the Chicago office of KPMG in 1980. Moving her family to the suburb of Winnetka, Illinois, she adjusted to the cold winters and even learned to enjoy the sport of curling. She was active in the Winnetka Presbyterian Church and served as a board member for the Presbyterian Home. 
Upon Jerry’s retirement, Kathy’s San Diego roots drew the couple back, and they settled in the city of Del Mar. Kathy became very active in the Del Mar community, participating in the Del Mar Garden Club, Del Mar Community Connections, the Friends of the Del Mar Library, the Del Mar Foundation, and in her husband Jerry’s successful run for City Council. She particularly enjoyed gardening, reading and travel; she made several memorable trips to Switzerland where she traced her family origins. After losing her husband in 2008, she adopted a Portuguese Water Dog, “Lucy”, with whom she would become a regular among the dog lovers meeting at Del Mar Shores Park. 
Kathy is survived by her children Donald and Jennifer, children-in-law Yuan and David, sister Susan, grandchildren Amelia and Jason, step-grandchildren Julian and Audrey, and dog Peaches. Services to be scheduled at a later date.