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.
Prior to going to Germany, she was attracted to a fellow named Ross Henke. They spent many hours talking. He helped her get her job at Safeway, where he was her supervisor.
While he was not as educated as Katy, he had artistic talent, and Katy believed he had great potential. He traveled to Germany to see her, and they married there. The marriage only lasted eight years, 1974 to 1982, primarily because he was not as loving as Katy wanted. Nonetheless, Katy enrolled and graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1979. During Law School, she served as Articles Editor of the Oregon Law Review and published her article. After Law School, she and Ross moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, where Katy was a Public Defender. Ross began drinking more beer than was healthy. He was also only interested in penis-oriented sex, while Katy was not aware of the power of her clitoris.
Katy did all the legal work to obtain a dissolution of her marriage, effective on Independence Day 1982. Meanwhile, Katy read a book entitled For Yourself by Lonnie Barbach, Ph.D, which encouraged Katy to stimulate her clitoris. That proved fulfilling, although Katy barely noticed her orgasms. She just noticed being relaxed and no longer playing with herself. On rereading the book, a passage advised, “feelings you hardly notice at first, will later become quite exquisite.” That was true.
During this time, Katy became active in forming and participating in the WomenCenter, a group of local feminists aimed at improving the lot of women. It established the Women’s Crisis Service, still active today, providing shelter and support for victims of domestic violence. It was at a WomenCenter candidate forum that Katy first met State Representative Bill Bradbury. Katy thought that Bill’s wife sure was lucky.
At the annual Bar Association Winter Dinner, Representative Bradbury was the guest speaker. It was a buffet dinner, so Katy got in line after Bill and introduced herself. Katy asked if the rumor that he was in a romantic relationship with his legislative assistant was true. It was. Bill explained that he and his wife had separated. They discussed how long they each had been involved in politics. Katy was campaigning at age 6 for her father’s successful run for Oregon State Representative. Bill was first active at age 10, supporting John F. Kennedy for President.
A short time later, Bill called and asked Katy to meet him for coffee in the evening. Katy suspected he wanted to discuss his marital situation and considered that Bill was a cheap-skate for not making an appointment at her legal office. By that time, Katy had left the Public Defender’s office and was an associate at a respected local law firm. As she guessed, Bill asked about divorce law. Katy explained that Oregon did not have divorce; it was a dissolution of marriage. The visit was fun. A few days later, an envelope came in the mail. The envelope was just like the ones in the boxes of envelopes her father had when he was a State Representative, party invitation-sized with heavy paper. Katy opened it eagerly to find an impaneled note card, just like the ones her Father had with engraved lettering and the blue and gold seal of Oregon at the top. The note had Bill’s handwritten scrawl in all caps: “KATY, YOU’RE DELIGHTFUL, I WANT MORE. – BILL”
And that is what Bill got for the next 40 years. Bill had slowly progressive multiple sclerosis, so over the years, he increasingly depended on Katy for his care. Nonetheless, they had loads of fun. Katy was already into whitewater rafting when they met, and that continued with the highlight being a trip down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon. They also enjoyed rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho several times, plus many trips in all seasons down the wild and scenic Rogue River. At Bill’s urging, Katy became a certified sailboat Captain. The allowed Bill and Katy to charter monohull sailboats for sailing adventures in the Caribbean and the Aegean Sea off of Greece.
Bill was an Oregon State Representative, State Senator, and Oregon Secretary of State. He also served for eight years on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Meanwhile, Katy was in private practice doing trial work, served as the Executive Director of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. She then trained at Coach U and became a professional business coach for several years. She returned to legal work to successfully defeat the Jordan Cove Energy Project (a plan to build a natural gas line to Coos Bay, liquify the gas, and then ship it to Asia).
Bill’s body was left in Seychelles. Soon, Katy left the ship and joined him to make arrangements for their trip home. Once home, Katy has focused on delivering the Pearls of wisdom that have been bubbling up inside her for years to you.
Katy Eymann whom you know as KatyCoach is an attorney, professional coach, and delightful.