Kim Kay McKinnon (Thompson)

After an eight year courageous battle with ovarian cancer, Kim McKinnon, 55, loving life partner, mother, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, niece, and friend passed away June 14, 2015 in her home in Bellevue, Idaho, surrounded in the love and presence of her family.

Kim was a model for love and compassion to the many who knew her. Her vibrant, ‘bigger than life’ personality, passion for life and her genuine warmth captured the heart. She showed us how to love, to chase dreams, to live life to the fullest and to never give up. Kim touched the lives of those who knew her, inspired us and made us all better persons. She demonstrated strength, courage, positive thinking, perseverance and profound love to all she engaged. Love and Family were the cornerstones of her life. And love is really what life is all about. Love in this world has been diminished by her passing.

Kim was born on July 2, 1959 to Tom and Judy McKinnon in Hudson, WI. She grew up on a farm near Holcomb, WI where she developed an affinity for sports and an extremely soft heart for animals, especially horses during her formative years. In the mid ‘70s, Kim moved with family to Rapid City, SD, where she graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 1977. She moved to California soon after high school and lived in the LA area for over 25 years. She attended Pasadena City College. In her later years she relocated to Idaho, to the beautiful Sun Valley area. She spent her final years with her true soul mate, Doug Baker, and his daughter, Brooke in Idaho.

She was employed as a customer service manager for cable television, and most enjoyed training others to become specialists and perfectionists just as Kim was. Her most prized position in life, however, was being the mother to two beautiful and wonderfully talented daughters, Hunter and Haylee. And along the way she added Brooke to the litter. No one could have been prouder than Kim to see both Hunter and Brooke obtain college degrees, and see Haylee, now a college junior, earn a full scholarship to play NCAA Division I basketball at Valparaiso in Indiana. It was one of Kim’s primary goals in life to ensure those educations came to pass.

Kim loved to travel, often to be with family around the country. She visited Australia, South Africa, Hawaii, and Alaska on many occasions. She filled her life with music from yesteryear, and could have been a professional photographer given all the photos she took. She was both creative and artistic in many aspects of her life.

Kim was a sports enthusiast. She played competitive softball for years in the LA area. She snow skied with family for nearly 3 decades, was an avid and devout Minnesota Vikings fan most of her life, loved to follow the BSU Broncos and Oregon Duck football programs (schools her daughters attended), managed a family fantasy football team, and most proudly was the world’s biggest fan while following her daughters’ sports activities through their school years. She traveled extensively to watch her youngest daughter, Haylee, play college basketball. Kim owned her own Harley, and loved bike excursions into the northwest, including Canada. Boating and fishing in Alaskan waters were among her life thrills. Kim also had a major passion for raising, riding and showing horses for most her life. She was an active member of the Appaloosa Horse Club and a youth director at a local California chapter. Kim won three Reserve Appaloosa World Championships and numerous other awards at a variety of horse events. She always owned and loved a variety of animals throughout her entire amazing life.

Kim leaves behind to cherish her memory: Doug Baker (life partner), Bellevue, ID; Hunter Thompson (daughter), Bellevue, ID; Haylee Thompson (daughter), Bellevue, ID; Brooke Baker (step daughter), Portland, OR; Judy Grossenbacher (mother), Georgetown, TX; Maxey Grossenbacher (step father), Georgetown, TX; Tom McKinnon (father), Georgetown, TX; Dan McKinnon (brother), Cave Creek, AZ; Kathy McKinnon (sister-in-law), Cave Creek, AZ; Doug McKinnon (brother), Georgetown, TX and Donna McKinnon (sister-in-law), Georgetown, TX along with numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Her friends list is endless. Kim was preceded in death by her grandparents.

A memorial service will be held at Kim and Doug Baker’s home in Bellevue this Saturday at 4:00PM. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations in Kim’s honor be considered to St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute (MSTI), Treasure Valley or Wood River Valley. Also consider Hospice of the Wood River Valley.