Kathi Gilbreath Thanos
My Life, 1955-2005

After graduation from Burlingame High School I headed for Cal along with multiple other grads from our class for study, socializing and lots of fun. In my junior year I was accepted to the UC Medical Center in San Francisco to continue my studies in Physical Therapy and graduated from Cal with a BS Degree in June of 1959 and from the Med Center with a certificate in Physical Therapy in September of the same year.

After quickly taking the state boards (three hideous days of testing - written, practical and verbal) I boarded a plane for Italy where I married a Navy man. We lived in Naples for two years and were fortunate enough to travel extensively visiting most of the countries in Europe. This was fun at the time, but looking back it was an amazing opportunity for us. As my Father used to say, "Youth is wasted on the young", I am beginning to understand what he meant.

Returning to the USA we lived in Portland and San Mateo before moving to Cupertino where I stayed for 37 years. We had three children: Jeb, Katie and Will. Not all matches are made in heaven and Brad and I divorced after 7 years of marriage.

This left me a single parent so I started to work doing what I had been trained for and I LOVED the work. So much so that it lasted 30+ years. From part time Physical Therapist to Head of the Physical Medicine Department [PT, OT, Speech] at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View CA kept me busy.

Eighteen years ago I met and married Alex Thanos, a group engineer from Lockheed-Martin Missiles and Space. Together we have five children and 12 grandchildren. Alex's daughters, Cathy and Jenny, live in San Diego. Cathy has four children: Jennifer, Matthew, Emma, and Grace.

Jeb lives in Bend OR with his wife, Linda and 3 boys – Jared, Ryan and Wes. Katie is in Mars PA with her husband, Mike, and their three children – Tony, Ang and Katharine (yes she is the sixth Katharine in as many generations). And Will and his family, wife Natalie and children, Brittney and Josh, live on Long Island, NY.

After retirement we settled six months in PA and six months in Surprise, AZ.. Genealogy and travel are my passions and I have been lucky enough to have been to Kenya, Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

When each of my grandchildren reaches the age of 10, I take them [just the two of us] on an adventure. We have been to Florida and canoeing in the Everglades, swimming with dolphins, snorkeling in the Caymans, river rafting down the Colorado and sailing on an historical Schooner for five nights out of Rockport ME. There are two to go and the adventures keep getting better.

Keeping busy during this time of life is easy with volunteering, DAR, genealogy, aerobics [I'm not sure I improve but I am in a holding pattern] and lots of coffee and luncheons. Life is good!

Kathi and Nancy Jensen Heberling (and spouses) meet for dinner at the Heberlings, April 2010