Kathy Lou Anchustegui-Church

Kathy L. Anchustegui-Church, 68, passed away on Sunday March 24th, 2024, after an extended battle with Early-Onset Alzheimers.  Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel Payette Idaho.

On October 29th, 1955, Kathy Lou Anchustegui was born to George and Nina Anchustegui, in Boise Idaho.  The youngest of four children, she attended Saint Mary’s Catholic School, and later Boise Junior High and High School. 

Her junior year, her family moved to Middleton, where she attended and graduated Middleton High in 1973. It was there she met and later married Jackson Fox in 1972 (to 1995).  December of that year they were blessed with a son Seth Leroy Glenn Fox.  In 1977 they had their daughter Katie.  They moved to Ontario, OR to settle on Morgan Avenue in 1978. 

Kathy stayed at the farmstead until 2009. During that time, she worked in town and came home to work raising cattle.  With little financial means, she could be seen carrying young Katie piggy-back over the 80 acres to irrigate. Hot summers and cold winters, heavy snows and droughts, she plucked away at Ranching.  Kathy had a large garden and canned to help the family get through winter. She was a talented seamstress and learned to Quilt with The Patch and Chat Club at the Boulevard Grange.

Kathy was an avid skier, enjoyed reading, she said she was a “serial house plant killer”, and she was a wonderful cook.  Later in her life she was interested in motorcycles and had two custom bikes built for her to ride.

Kathy enjoyed numbers, and through her job at Kaman Bearing she met her mentor, Norma Smith.  She picked up extra work with Norma preparing taxes, and during tax season would work late into the evening.  Kathy fulfilled her dream to go to college and enrolled in TVCC to study Accounting. Kathy graduated TVCC with honors, a member of Phi Theta Kappa, and was named student of the year at graduation. Kathy then attended BSU, and achieved her bachelor’s degree, and would later become a Certified Public Accountant in both Oregon and Idaho.  Years later, she would return to BSU and complete her Masters.

Kathy was a proud member of the Basque Community. She was a devout Catholic, and was an active member of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Ontario OR and the Corpus Christi Parish in Fruitland, ID.

Through her volunteer work at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Kathy met Larry Church, and they were married in 2017.  Although their time together was short, it was time that left many cherished memories. 

Kathy is survived by her loving husband Larry Church, her daughter Katie Fox (Kenn Schappert), her granddaughters Caitlin (Kapen) Burke, Braidy, and Courtney Schappert, her great-grand daughter Laiklynn Burke, her sister Denise (Dan) Shewmaker, her brother Steve (Debbie) Anchustegui, her sister-in law Renee Anchustegui, and numerous Nieces and Nephews.

Kathy is preceded in death by her son Seth, her mother Nina, her father George, her brother Gary, and her niece Michelle.

After the devastating loss of her son Seth, Kathy would forever grieve.  It is a blessing that she can be with him again.