Genevieve LaVerghn Kephart

Genevieve LaVerghn Kephart, 84, a resident of Kitsap County for over 50 years, died Oct. 27 in her apartment at Horizon House in Seattle.

Born in Glade, Kan., to Roy and Eva Muir, she was raised in many different cities in Kansas as her father was associated with the railroad and moved to various station depots during her childhood.

She attended Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., where she majored in communications and met her future husband, Marshall B. Kephart.

When she left Bethany College she worked for an abstract firm in Stockton, Kan., for about a year, and saved her money and then went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, majoring in journalism before going to Hollywood. There, she worked in advertising as a script clerk for the Foote, Cone and Belding Advertising Agency and was on many radio shows including the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby shows.

She and Marshall were wed at Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle, on May 4, 1946, and they settled in Bremerton. Marshall began his career with Crawford Motors, and “Gen” was a manager in the Puget Sound Naval Hospital Fiscal Supply Department, retiring in 1985.

She lived on Bainbridge Island from 1990 to 2002, and was a member of the American Legion.

She was known as a curious person; she had a mastery of detail that astounded friends to the day she died. Whether it was a crossword or jigsaw puzzle, card games of every type, as a formidable bridge player, or planning her next trip to places she read about, she was focused and disciplined.

Her family was the center of her life, and as it grew from her four children to their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she remained a proud matriarch.

She was preceded in death by her husband on June 29, 1975.

She is survived by her four children, Michael, Jim, Marsha and John, and her brother, Donald Muir of Georgetown, Texas.

At her request there will be no memorial service; remembrances can be made to Hospice of Kitsap County, P.O. Box 3416

Silverdale, WA 98383, an organization with which she volunteered for many years.