Katherine Coney Corbett

Katherine C. “Kay” Corbett, who zealously carried on the prominent Corbett family tradition of community service, died at age 84.

Mrs. Corbett was an administrator for Portland State University for twenty-three years and served on more than forty major civic, cultural, and philanthropic boards.

She married into a family whose Oregon history was deep in public service and politics. Her husband was Henry Ladd Corbett, Jr., whose father was acting governor of Oregon twice and president of the Oregon Senate in 1935 and whose great-grandfather, Henry W. Corbett, was a prominent Oregon businessman and U.S. senator from Oregon in the 1870s. Her husband’s brother, Alfred H. Corbett, served twelve years in the Oregon Senate and was later a federal adviser on legal services to the poor. Mrs. Corbett’s death was the third in the family in past five months.

Katherine Coney Corbett was born May 24, 1916 in Charleston, South Carolina. She attended the University of South Carolina before her family moved to Portland, then attended St. Helens Hall Junior College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oregon. In 1940, she married Henry Corbett.

For the first 24 years of her married life, she stayed home to raise her four children. “But she was never home,” her daughter Gretchen said, “because she was always at board meetings.”

Her involvement included almost every aspect of the city’s cultural and civic life. Among the boards she served on were the Oregon Symphony, Young Audiences, Portland Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northwest Film Society, Emanuel Hospital Foundation, Parry Center, University of Oregon Foundation, League of Women Voters, and World Affairs Council. She was often president or chairwoman of the boards. She was appointed to the Governor’s Committee on the Arts, the Governor’s Committee on Children and Youth, the Metropolitan Arts Commission, and the Oregon Arts Commission.

She was a member of First Unitarian Church and was its moderator. In 1964, she joined the administration of what was then Portland State College. She worked in different positions for Portland State, including as student activities director, assistant to the president, events coordinator, and community relations director.

“She did so many things and influenced so many students and so many programs that it’s hard to give her credit” for any one thing, said Joseph Blumel, former university president. “Kay had a deep impact on all the arts programs and was instrumental in almost every aspect of the arts at the university.”

He said that her involvement was not only professional. “She supported many students financially as well as many activities.”

Among her accomplishments was the establishment of the Litman Gallery at the university. She brought in speakers for the university and organized its commencements, raised money, and organized events. She retired in the late 1980s.

Mrs. Corbett’s four children also became involved in the arts and their communities. Her son Harry and daughter Glen served in the Peace Corps. Her son Richard C. is head of the children’s book department at Powell’s Books. And her daughter Gretchen H., a television and stage actress, is artistic director of the Haven Project, a Portland theater program for at-risk children.

In addition to her children, Mrs. Corbett is survived by her brothers, Rembert Coney and Richard Coney; sisters, Glen Miller and Frances Coney; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

 Written by Joan Harvey of the Oregonian (in the Friday, February 2, 2001 issue)

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