Kari Jessica McKahan

June 17, 1973 – July 2, 2020

Kari Jessica McKahan died on July 2, 2020 in Homer.

Kari was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the daughter of Deborah Holmes and James McKahan. Kari moved to Walla Walla, Washington in 1985 when her mother became a professor in the theater department at Whitman College. She attended Pioneer Junior high school and Walla Walla High School, graduating in 1991.

Kari went on to earn a bachelor of arts in English and world literature at Pitzer College in Pomona, California. In 1996 Kari relocated to New York and worked in the fashion industry, first in front of the camera as a model and then behind the camera as a stylist and producer. She also worked in the hospitality industry as a hostess, bartender, etc., and freelanced as a VIP party promoter and booking agent for various New York City restaurants, bars and clubs, poetry readings, art gallery openings and high-profile events. Her travels led her to the Czech Republic, Tuscany, Paris, Great Britain, India, and Southeast Asia.

In 2011 she moved to Homer. There, she worked at various positions including the Pratt Museum, Ulmer’s, Bald Mountain Air, and the Sourdough Express. She always enjoyed people and kept in touch with friends all over the globe. She loved music, wrote poetry, and liked employment involving interacting with the public. Some of her Homer friends called her a “Norwegian Goddess.” Her untimely death has shocked many. She will be sorely missed.

She is survived by her mother, Deborah Holmes; father, James McKahan; her uncle and cousin, Jon and Joe Holmes; her aunts, Druan Holmes and Anne Ahrens; and her step-father and step-brother, Craig and Kyle Gunsul. Thea, Kari’s dog, has found a new home with Kari’s dear friend Bob Pope.