Katherine Julia Carlisle's Obituary
It is with great sadness that we announce that Katherine “Kay” Julia Carlisle (Bosco) passed away at her home on Christmas morning, December 25, 2018. She was 102 years old. Kay was born on August 10, 1916 in Oakland to Antonio Vincenzo Bosco and Maria Fontanella Bosco (both originally from Chieri, Italy).
Kay grew up in a largely Italian neighborhood in West Oakland where life revolved around their church, St. Andrews Catholic Church. Kay had one sister, Marie Angela Coats (deceased). When the girls were young, they used to walk through the Webster tube to go to Neptune Beach and buy ice cream. Kay and Marie were both members of the first Girl Scout troop in Oakland, Troop Number 1 under Ms. Pape who was the leader. Kay continued to see the girls from that troop each year until the mid-1980’s.
Kay attended Clawson School (Peralta Street, Oakland), Hoover Junior High and then University High School on Grove Street in Oakland. In 1933 she joined the rowing team at Hoover Junior High and rowed on Lake Merritt. In August, 1941 she hiked Half Dome at Yosemite. A family member from every generation after her has also made it to the top of Half Dome in her honor.
Kay loved to dance and met her husband, Ralph Owen Carlisle (deceased) at a dance in Oakland. They were married at St. Andrew’s Church on November 14, 1942. She made her own wedding dress, using the pinking shears that Ralph had given her for Christmas. They honeymooned along the coast of California and Oregon along Highway 1. After getting married, Ralph taught her to drive (she was 33 years old) and then he bought her her first Cadillac.
She loved to sew and was an excellent cook, using recipes from her father who was a chef. Kay loved making large Italian dinners for the family (sometimes up to 30 people) with 5 or 6 courses. Her Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were legendary. Her tortellini recipe has been passed down for many generations. Her homemade polenta was delicious and everyone in the family has at one time or another taken a turn stirring it in the huge metal pot. She would take hours to make her father’s stuffing from scratch using handmade sausage. She made the best split pea soup around.
Ralph and Kay moved to the Rockridge area of Oakland in 1958 and joined St. Teresa’s Catholic Church. They had two children, Paul Michael Carlisle (deceased) and Annette Marie Snyder (deceased). Her greatest joy was being a mother. Ralph was in the Coast Guard fighting in World War II when Paul was born. Kay sent him a telegram announcing his son’s birth. The reply came back and simply said “good job Ma!” From then on, they referred to each other as “ma” and “pa”.
Kay worked at Firestone Tire Company, Bank of America, Boysen Paint Company and then BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in their treasury department for more than 40 years, retiring when she was 76 years old. Kay’s favorite thing to do was to go into San Francisco on Saturdays to shop at the Emporium Capwells store. She would often say the best time to go was after Christmas when they put all of the Christmas dishes on sale in their basement. She also loved IMagnin’s in downtown Oakland because she said they had the best coats and dresses. She very rarely wore pants, believing that a lady should wear dresses, especially when going out.
Every Friday night for 85 years all the women in the family (from her sister to her grandchildren) would meet in Kay’s kitchen for “sewing night” to socialize, sew and have cake and coffee. (On occasion, her grandchildren even learned to make dresses and darn socks the old-fashioned way.) At Kay’s house, no one went hungry and everyone had to have at least one piece of cake before leaving.
Kay is survived by her daughter in law, Jan M. Carlisle; her grandchildren, Anthony Paul Carlisle (wife, Kate Carlisle), Angela Kay Carlisle-Brown (husband, Greg Brown), Andrei Joseph Carlisle (wife, Susan Carlisle), James Anthony Snyder (wife, Jenni Snyder) and Marie Olivia Jensen (husband Jorgen Jensen); and her great
grandchildren, Jack Snyder, Miles Jensen, Julian Jensen, Katelyn C. Brown, Anthony E. Brown, Sierra Carlisle, Christiane Carlisle, Shawn Carlisle and Tyler Carlisle.
Kay loved candy and ate it daily, her favorite being Coffee Rios. She used to say that she ate real butter, ate salami and drank coffee everyday and she was healthier than us all…turns out she was right…Kay was still driving at 91 and shopping each day until her mid 90’s. She labeled everything, had a place for everything and loved looking at pictures of family events, especially weddings. She thought it was “just wonderful” to see her great grandchildren, especially when they were playing in her kitchen. She loved the spring when her peony flowers (passed down from the generation before her) would bloom, but orchids were her favorite flower.
Kay would often say, “take what you have and make the most of it” and she did…she really, really did.
Friends and family are invited to attend a Prayer Service on Monday, January 14th at 10 am at the Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611, followed by a celebration of Kay’s life at Jan’s family home.
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