Cathleen Mary Tillson
April 21, 1926 - Aug. 1, 2017
Cathy Tillson (née Cathleen Mary Dasch) was born in Hot Lake, Oregon on April 21, 1926 to Oliver Dasch and Kathleen Marie (Murphy) Dasch. She had one brother, Frederick W. Dasch. Cathy died, after a brief illness, in Daly City, California on August 1, 2017.
In Portland, Oregon, while still in high school, Cathy worked at The Oregon Journal as a copy girl. After graduation, she worked briefly as an assistant to the copy editor of the Culver City Star News when she moved to Southern California with her best friend Peggy Babcock, an actress and dancer.
Eventually Cathy returned to Portland and worked in publishing and radio. After World War II, she moved to San Francisco where she married radio producer and writer Kenneth H. Tillson at S.F. City Hall. In San Francisco, Cathy worked as an editor and reporter at The Daily Pacific Builder, where she was to remain for 39 years. When the Builder was purchased by McGrawHill, she was promoted to team leader, where sometimes she traveled covering architects and contractor conventions, until her retirement.
Cathy and her husband Ken lived in downtown S.F. until the 1970s when they, with Ken’s sister, Elizabeth “Betty” Bacon purchased and moved into their own home in the Inner Sunset on Noriega St. After Cathy’s husband Ken and his sister Betty died, Cathy dated and eventually lived with her best friend Peggy’s widower, William Hugh McDonald, who was an actor, writer, and environmental control technician. In their later years, they traveled extensively through Europe. Hugh registered himself and Cathy as Domestic Partners when they moved in together in 2006 prior to Hugh’s death in 2010.
A life-long lover of books, Cathy wrote fiction in her spare time and enthusiastically exchanged books with her friends. She loved The New Yorker magazine, Jane Austen, J.K. Rowlings, and many other authors. She also loved cats. Cathy had personal style and class, an original Bohemian mind, and a great sense of humor. She was a loyal, kind friend and neighbor.
Survivors include Stepson Murdoch McDonald, son of her best friends Peggy and Hugh; family members in Oregon, including nieces Julie Tillson Mitchell and Margo Tillson (Pat) Carty, nephew John Michael (Karin) Tillson, and great niece Amy Lynn Mitchell (Abe) Estimada and son Mitchell; goddaughter Stephanie Hunt, daughter of Cathy’s longtime friend Shirley Hunt; and friend and neighbor Sally Barrett. Family and friends would like to thank Dr. Gerald Murphy; everyone at Pacific Eye Associates; the caregivers at Pacifica Mission Villa Memory Care, including Cynthia Cowan, Carlo Baysa, and Abella Tolmasoff; Salvador Abapo, Cesar Christopher Capili, and Jeffrey Castillo at Care America Inc.; the staff/ care providers at Silverado Hospice, Seton Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital for their care of Cathy in her final two years of life. There will be a private family gathering to remember Cathy’s life. For information, contact the San Francisco Columbarium and Funeral Home.