| Notes |
Legacy Remembers, 1 December 2023
Eleanor Bassett
Eleanor Katharine "Kitty" Bassett, née Wile, passed away peacefully in Vacaville, California, on December 5, 2022 at the age of 97. Kitty is survived by her three children, son John (Lillian Friend) of Piedmont, California, daughter Cindy (Robert Larsen) of Seattle, Washington and daughter Katie, (James Burke) of Belvedere California, as well as 11 grandchildren, their spouses and partners, and two great-grandchildren. Kitty is also survived by six beloved nieces and a beloved nephew in the Wile and Bassett families, and their spouses and families. A bright, happy and loving person, Kitty lived a long, wonderful and charmed life. Among other things, Kitty cherished her family, fun, people, ideas, life itself, and, last but not least, dressing stylishly in bright colors. She loved to laugh, even when she didn't get the joke. Kitty was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on July 13th, 1925, along with her twin brother, Frank Sloan Wile, to their parents Katharine Work Wile and Dr. Udo Julius Wile. Kitty and Frank joined older brothers Thomas ("Tom") and David ("Dave") and they all grew up in a large, elegant, and extended household. On turning eighteen, Kitty left Ann Arbor, and travelled to New England for college where she received her bachelor's degree in Sociology from Connecticut College in 1947. Following her graduation, Kitty returned to Ann Arbor, but soon after bravely departed to seek her destiny in the West. On her quest, she, traveled widely, first to Texas, then to Los Angeles, and ultimately to San Francisco and Honolulu where she worked as a secretary on defense-related projects, some very secret. It was in San Francisco in 1953 at a formal dance at the Fairmont Hotel at that she met her beloved husband Dr. John Washington Bassett. This happy and chance meeting in fine surroundings led to a lifetime love. John was then a young officer the United States Navy, and he left San Francisco soon afterward, but Kitty and John corresponded extensively and their love grew while he was away at sea. Upon his discharge and return, Kitty and John became betrothed, and they were married in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 5, 1954. Immediately following the celebration of their marriage, Kitty and John undertook a long, and at turns, challenging, amusing, and colorful trip West to find the right place to start John's surgical practice and, more importantly for both, to start a family. At the end of the trip, they settled and made their life and had their family in Portland, Oregon. After many happy years of marriage together, three children and 11 grandchildren, they celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary, prior to John's passing on November 27, 2003. Kitty lived in Portland from 1954 until 2020, moving to Seattle and then to California to be with family. Kitty was a kind, gracious lady whose favorite expression was "Live dangerously!". By those who knew her, Kitty is remembered fondly for her loving devotion as a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, for her magnetic enthusiasm for life, adventure, a good party and for her love of dressing with style. Kitty and John are interred side by side at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.
|
Bassett Family Association Database
1925 - 2022 (97 years)