Katy was born in 1952 and named Kathleen Priscilla Eymann. She immediately had an older brother, the eldest, and three older sisters (“the big girls. In less than eight years, three more sisters (‘the little girls”) joined her, making her the middle child in a family of one boy and seven girls. Despite all the siblings, Katy was not a part of the big girls or the little girls, so she spent time alone, reading a lot. She grew up on a farm in the Mohawk Valley, a small valley northeast of Eugene, Oregon. Her family still operates the farm.  With such a big family, money was tight. When bill collectors called, Katy was instructed to say her mother was not home, even though her mother was in the same room. It was confusing to be told that it was good to be honest, yet instructed to lie.
Katy paid for her college education at a community college by working in a food cannery during the summers and living at home. When she enrolled at the University of Oregon, she supported herself by working part-time in the Produce Department at Safeway. Thanks to her German professor, she spent her senior academic year in Stuttgart, West Germany.  She graduated with a major in Philosophy in 1974.