Kate MacGavin Dickey

Kate passed away at 94 in Davis on 2/18. She was born & raised in San Francisco, as were her beloved parents Helen Baker and Drummond MacGavin, and most of her siblings Helen, Dorothy Wilkins, Barbara McCarthy, and Phyllis Crandall (all deceased). She graduated from The Hamlin School and Cal, then did Admin work in SF before pausing to marry Sanford Dickey and raise children John (m. Cathy Scarr) and Ann (m. Mark Thompson), respectively of Davis and Oakland, while living in Palos Verdes and Newport Beach. She later worked for UC Irvine and in aerospace, mastering word processing before the PC era and developing/ managing centers to edit and produce documents of all sorts. After retiring and moving to Sonoma County (where they lived until moving to Davis in 2019), Kate and Sanford traveled widely in North America, Europe, and even West Africa. Kate took keen interest in the lives of her friends, sisters, and nieces (Wendy Weiler, Jeanie Graustein, and Sue Fujita, who being children of her older sisters were a bit like younger sisters), and greatly enjoyed walking, hiking, and traveling with friends or family. One of her favorite destinations was NYC, where theater, art, and food were her main passions. Kate read extensively, frequently about women whose cultural and political achievements she admired. She was earnestly concerned and hopeful about the long-term outlook for a more just and environmentally healthy world, adapting her habits and politics to improve the future for her children, grandchildren, and their peers. In addition to raising her own children, Kate welcomed, housed, and fed delicious food to her extended family and those she and Sanford befriended in each community in which they lived. Kate is survived by Sanford, their children and their children’s spouses, as well as their grandsons Stuart and Drummond Thompson, and Hank and Sam Dickey, respectively of LA, Cleveland, Davis, and New Orleans. Informal remembrances will be at Peet’s Coffee/Copperfields, Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa (10 AM on 3/23), and at Berryessa Brewing, Winters (1 PM on 3/26). Memorial contributions can be made to Partners in Health (pih.org/).