We remember and celebrate a dear practitioner in our community, Kathleen Harper, who passed last year. We offer a deep bow of gratitude for Kathleen’s generosity as a Cedar Society member (legacy donor to the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation).
As Thich Nhat Hanh shares, “A cloud never dies.” We hope you enjoy Kathleen’s inspiring life story.
Kathleen Harper gave birth to her first child at age seventeen. She then attended college while simultaneously raising five children. Her children fondly remember her diligent study habits, arranging her homework on the dining room table in subject-specific “stations” which she would rotate between (with a big pot of tea in the center).
At age thirty-five, Kathleen graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, with dual degrees in journalism and political science. She and her husband began careers as journalists. Kathleen also gained experience in marketing, technical writing, and managing technical writers.
After a divorce, Kathleen moved to Seattle, Washington, and became the primary provider for her four youngest children. Her work ethic and resolve were remarkable.
“I can never remember my mother spending money on herself,” says her son Lucas. “Never a spa day, never a new outfit, never a weekend away. In fact, in one of our homes, my mother slept on the couch in the living room so that we, her children, could have the bedrooms. We never lived extravagantly, and my mother diligently budgeted money to make sure we always had food on the table and shoes on our feet.”
Kathleen was eventually offered a full-time position at Microsoft. This marked a significant changing point in her life. This career development allowed Kathleen the resources for personal development. She discovered that she was an artist and found joy in pottery, sculpture, drawing, painting, and bookmaking. She taught free workshops on constructing hardback journals by hand. She encouraged participants to create two journals: one to keep, and one which she would donate to disenfranchised people through her nonprofit organization, Creative Arts for Everyone. Kathleen also became a master knitter later in life and rarely went anywhere without a bag full of yarn.
Kathleen also explored spiritual traditions ranging from Christianity to atheism, Wicca to Taoism. She eventually found her spiritual home in Buddhism. She first encountered the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh approximately twenty years ago, and thereafter read every Thich Nhat Hanh book she could find. His teachings on mindfulness and engaged Buddhism in particular changed her life. She even traveled to Vietnam in 2005 to welcome Thich Nhat Hanh upon his official return. She found peace in her life and did everything she could to offer peace to others.
Kathleen passed in March of 2019 in an unexpected accident. The day after Kathleen’s passing, her children learned that she had commissioned a local artisan to create photo albums for each child, honoring that child’s relationship to the family. They considered this, as well as Kathleen and Joe’s legacy donations to various nonprofit organizations, as amazing gifts from beyond the grave.
Kathleen is missed greatly. She is survived by her five children, Laura, Rachael, Joshua, Elizabeth, and Lucas as well as four grandchildren, Joseph, Bryce, Alexandria, and Alec. They all live in Seattle, Washington.
We are deeply grateful for Kathleen’s generosity, helping to continue the International Plum Village Community and bring peace, joy, understanding, and reconciliation to the world.