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I didn't know at the time of naming the teahouse after Katy, just how meaningful that would become. She was a very special person. Katy touched the lives of many, many people. On June 8, a special celebration was held in Columbia, California for her family and friends. I've started work on this page to bring some of that celebration to anyone who knew her over the internet and through eBay and for anyone else who wants to visit from time to time. I'll be adding photos and messages to this special page over time and I hope you visit often to see how it progresses. The movie below was played on a large screen at the celebration. If it doesn't work in your browser, use the link provided to get the latest version of the Quick Time player. Please send any suggestions, notes or special remembrances you have of Katy to me at manager@columbiakates.com. The eBay thread can be found here.
Thanks to everyone who has helped us, we'll be adding that list shortly as well. Thank you for visiting. - Clare (abuttonlady) Bazley
Kathryn ‘Katy' Rae (Tout) McMahon
March 1, 1952 — April 2, 2008
Columbia resident Kathryn "Katy" Rae (Tout) McMahon died April 2 at a Sonora hospital. She was 56 years old.
Born and raised in Stockton, she lived in Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego County, before moving to Columbia two years ago. There, she opened Columbia Kate's, a Victorian teahouse.
She was self-taught in antiques and genealogy and had traced her family lineage to pre-Revolutionary War America. She was trained as an attorney, but worked as a community development specialist in the early years of eBay.
She enjoyed reading, music, art and gardening in her herb garden in the backyard of Columbia Kate's. She recently learned to play the ukulele with her teacher and best friend, Peggy "Auntie Uke" Reza.
She realized a life long dream when with her other best friend, Clare Bazley, she opened Columbia Kate's - a teahouse, at the corner of Columbia Street and State Street in Columbia on February 1, 2007.
She was preceded in death by her father, Robert Tout, in 1994; brother, Laurence Tout, in 1991; and grandparents, Catherine Tout in 1992, Herbert Tout in 1975, Ethel Ruth Wilson in 1995, and Richard Wilson in 1970.
She is survived by her mother, Florence Tout, of Columbia; son, Brian McMahon, of Del Mar, San Diego County; sister, Barbé Tout, of Columbia; brothers Herb Tout of Columbia, Bill Tout of Ashland, Ore., and Roger Tout of Madison, Wis.; and extended family in Stockton and Bakersfield.
A celebration of life will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at the Jack Douglass Saloon in Columbia. For more information, call Columbia Kate's at 532-1885. All are welcome to come share memories and raise a final Guinness in her honor.
Donations may be made to Friends of Columbia State Historic Park, P.O. Box 367, Columbia, CA 95310, www.friendsofcolumbiashp.org. (Published June 2 in The Union Democrat, Sonora, CA)
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