Kathleen Anne Rauch
April 7, 1952 to December 9, 2014
A memorial service for Kathleen Anne Rauch, a longtime San Lorenzo Valley resident, will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 22, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ chapel, located at the corner of Central Avenue and Love Creek Road, in Ben Lomond.
Kathy passed away peacefully at her Ben Lomond home on Dec. 9, following a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 62 years old.
She was born on North Island in San Diego County to Charles Gladstone Batt Jr. and June Coleen Merrick on April 7, 1952.
Kathy moved to the San Lorenzo Valley from Santa Clara in 1968, and graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1970.
In 1974, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in math education from Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah.
Following graduation, she and her husband Greg moved to Schenectady, N.Y.
Kathy was a full-time mother starting with the arrival of their son Christopher in 1976. Daughters Cambria and Emily were also born in New York. Her second son, Tim, arrived when Kathy was living in New Jersey. Daughter Ashleigh arrived when Kathy resided in Sydney, Australia.
The Rauch family returned to Ben Lomond from Paoli, Pa. in 1985, and Kathy’s teaching career began at San Lorenzo Valley Junior High School in 1989.
In 1999, she and her family moved to Pullman, Wash., at which point she taught math at Lewiston (Idaho) High School. Upon her return to Ben Lomond in 2002, she taught at Scotts Valley High School until her retirement in 2014.
During her tenure at SVHS, she touched the lives of many students and staff. The 2013 SVHS yearbook was dedicated to Kathy, with the description “Patient, Kind, Caring, Funny, Positive, Helpful.”
Kathy was a strong proponent of higher education, as illustrated by her children, who collectively earned nine college degrees.
Kathy was an accomplished traveler during her adult life, having resided in three eastern states, three western states, and Australia. She taught an early-morning scripture study class for high school-age students. Kathy left a positive influence on local merchants and everyone that she came into contact with.
She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Greg Rauch of Ben Lomond; her five children, Christopher Rauch of Los Osos, Calif.; Emily Liberatore of Danville; Cambria Lisonbee of Newport Beach; Timothy Rauch of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Ashleigh Cramer of Mesa, Ariz.
Kathy also leaves her 13 beloved grandchildren, who gave her the fighting spirit to be there for them, and whom she loved so very much, along with many loving extended family members in California, Washington, Utah, Indiana, and Nebraska. Her mother Coleen, and sister Wendy also passed on in 2014.
Please visit www.pacificgardenschapel to send a thought or prayer to her family. Any kind acts of charity can be made in her memory to Valley Churches United Missions in Ben Lomond.
