Kathleen Maya Crow, 65
Kathleen Maya Crow, 65, passed away at Logan Health Medical Center on Jan. 16, 2024, with her partner and her brother at her side. For the past five years she had lived with metastatic lung cancer, an experience she documented in a series of eloquent and perceptive entries posted on Caring Bridge and Facebook. She was working on a memoir at the time of her death.
She was born Kathleen Ann Brown on June 9, 1958, in Kalispell. She graduated from Flathead High School, and earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. She began her teaching career in Wolf Point, Montana, then returned to Kalispell where she taught for Somers Lakeside District 29.
Kathy retired from teaching in 2005. After her retirement, she managed several rental properties and volunteered at the Humane Society of Northwest Montana. In recent years she served as the librarian for the Jwalan Muktika School for Illumination in Kalispell.
In 2014, Kathy met Mike Stevenson, the man she would share the rest of her life with. In 2019 they held a ceremony to memorialize their love and their commitment to each other. It was her relationship with Mike that allowed her to write: "I’m even happier now than I was before the cancer. Mike summed it up when he said ‘This is a wonderful time.’ Yes, amazingly, it really is."
Kathy legally changed her name to Kathleen Maya Crow in 2020. The name "Maya" had come to her in a dream, and represented the idea that the physical body is an illusion, and the true self is "an eternal sacred aspect of All That Is." Kathy wrote that crows were her spirit helpers throughout her illness, "first coming to tell me change was on its way, then coming to tell me not to be afraid of the dark, and finally coming to bring light to the darkness."
Kathy loved hiking, gardening, and reading, and her close relationships with several dogs and cats over the years were deeply important to her.
She is survived by her partner, Mike Stevenson of Kalispell and Missoula; and her brother, Curtis Brown of San Antonio, Texas.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Friends are encouraged to visit the website www.buffalohillfh.com to leave notes of condolences for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory caring for the family.