Katri (Judy) Saari
On September 27, 2024, Katri Saari died in Clearwater, Florida, after a long battle with Parkinson; a battle fought with Sisu, yet, at the end, acceptance. Born as “Judith” on April 20, 1945, in Hancock Michigan to parents Gene and Martha Saari, she later changed her name to “Katri” as a salute to her Finnish grandmother Katri Saari.
Her youth reflected the wonders of the Copper Country with skiing on snow and water, berry picking, swimming, sledding, skating, parties, dances, queen candidate, twirler for the Houghton High marching band, and on and on. Her spunky, fun-loving attitude and thirst for activities continued throughout her life, whether skiing on Ripley or in Colorado, exploring Copper Harbor or Helsinki, or, after obtaining a sail boat in Florida, enlisting a crew of women to compete “against those guys” in Clearwater area races.
Her passion always was art as manifested by her high school notebooks where her sketches swamped her course notes. After a Freshman year at Michigan State, Katri was admitted into the prestigious program at the Art Institute of Chicago where she graduated in 1967. Then she embraced another passion: teaching. This was in schools ranging from Calumet to Sault and then Clearwater. Reflecting her philosophy that art is a powerful engaging way for students to discover intellectual discipline, she typically taught courses filled with the disruptive, the last resort students, and turned many around. Manifesting her belief in the power of art and education, she was a proponent (for a time, an administrator) for a high school encouraging dancing (e.g., jazz, ballet) and the arts.
Art was everything, where Copper Country scenes were among favorites, and it was the total: painting, drawing, making jewelry, sewing, sculpturing, and even learning to work with metals to explore what else was possible. What a full, creative life!
Katri is preceded in death by her parents, husband Richard Anderson, subsequent husband Richard Valentine, and sister-in-law Lillian Saari. She is survived by brother Don Saari (Irvine, California), nieces Katri Sieberg (Tampere, Finland) and Anneli Duffin (Littleton, Colorado), their husbands and children, as well as many friends. A private family burial will be in the Copper Country.