Mary Kaye Hale

Mary Kaye Hale

April 6, 1935 - June 19, 2022

It is with profound sadness that the Hale Family announces the passing of its matriarch, Mary Kaye Hale, 87, and longtime Cheney resident, on June 19, 2022. She will be laid to rest on July 2, 2022, with services at Cheney's St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church at 10:00 am with reception following and an interment at 1:00 pm at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Spokane. As a Colville tribal member, Kaye will be buried in honor of her proud Indian heritage in a Pendleton-draped blanket and wooden coffin befitting a Colville elder.

Mary Kaye Hale was born in Inchelium, Wash. to John and Letha Perkins on April 6, 1935. Her birthplace is in a location that is now under the water line of Lake Roosevelt, the lake produced by the dam at Grand Coulee. Letha raised Kaye by herself since Kaye was just 8 years old after John's untimely accidental death while building the Fort Spokane bridge. Letha and Kaye eventually moved to Spokane where, in 1955, Kaye graduated from Marycliff High School and began her nursing studies at Gonzaga University. The following year, while visiting her aunt in Bryan, Texas, she met and soon after, married Alan Hale, an Air Force pilot and began a new career as a homemaker. Kaye and Alan had six boys (Steven, John, Mark, Phil, Chris, and Brian), adopt a 16-year-old girl (Brenda), and all-but adopted a foreign Chinese student (Zheng Yu).

While raising the kids, Kaye embarked on a life-long trek to discover her family's ancestry and share it with all who were interested. From her family's original European migration to the United States, to Hudson Bay fur traders, to the Nez Pierce and Colville Confederated tribes, Kaye's passion was to learn her ancestry then share her collective knowledge with her family and those that inquired along the way. Kaye became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was welcomed as a guest researcher for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Chicago and Washington DC. Her research fills binders enjoyed by many throughout this great country.

Upon Alan's retirement from the military, the family moved to Cheney, Wash. in 1981 where Alan became a college professor at Eastern Washington University (EWU). Kaye relished the opportunity to return to the Spokane area where she could care for her mother and spend weekends at their lake place near Inchelium. In 1993, Kaye and Alan started XN Technologies, located in Cheney, where it designed, manufactured, and sold its audio-visual products globally.

Kaye purchased a former sorority house and restructured it into low-cost housing to support Colville Indian students attending EWU. She also established an annual EWU scholarship program to support the tribe youth.

Alan and Kaye sold XN Technologies in 2006 to start a charter aircraft company, XN Air, and eventually sell that company in 2011 to retire once again.

Alan passed away July 2, 2012, from cancer. Kaye would continue to care for her family as long as she was able until her death on June 19, 2022. Kaye will be buried ten years to the day of Alan's passing and laid to rest next to the man she loved so dearly. She will be greatly missed.

Kaye is survived by her son John Hale of Rosalia; son Mark Hale of Cheney; son Phil (Kathy) Hale of Spokane; son Brian (Kate) Hale of Tukwila, Wash.; grandchildren Thomas and Justin Hale of Spokane; Jason Hale of Spokane; Alex Hale of Sisters, Ore. and Patrick Hale of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Ashley, Madeline, and Jenna Hale of Colorado Springs; great-grandson Rowan Hale of Spokane, great-grand-daughter Mia DeMaderios and great-grandson Elijah Read of Sisters, Ore.; and many cousins and friends. Kaye is preceded in death by her sons Steve and Chris Hale, daughter Brenda Hale, and parents John and Letha Perkins.

Funeral Service will be held at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 460 North 5th Street, Cheney, WA 99004, at 10:00 AM, Saturday, July 2, 2022, with a reception following. An interment burial service will be held at 1:00 PM at Holy Cross Cemetery, 7200 N. Wall Street, Spokane, WA 99208.