Written by Kate's family:

Katherine Jane (Kate) Finkelstein, 76 years old of Prather was walked home by her family on Saturday April 2, 2016.
Katherine was born in Wasco, California on January 30, 1940 to Wanda and Cleo Ray Long. She had one sister, Saundra Sue who was two years her junior. Her father was an avid reader of classic novels and wanted to name his daughters like the characters of those books, as where Wanda was more simplistic and wanted her girls to be named something plainer. The compromise was the girls had their sophisticated names but were to be called by their plainer middle names, Jane and Sue. Katherine spent the majority of her childhood on her maternal grandparent's farm, her childhood friends were her cousins and younger uncles.
Kate met her first husband William Cranford while chaperoning her cousin Billie and her date to a USO dance. They were married shortly after and had eight children together.
She met her second husband John in 1976 and had one daughter the following year. Katherine and John had a special bond that lasted Katherine's lifetime long after John's passing in 1984.
Katherine met her third husband Herbert Finkelstein in 1988. She found a companion that could give her the stability. Katherine remained with Herb till his passing in 1998.
Katherine is survived by her children Cynthia Ann (Tom) Burkett of Texas, James Preston (Phyllis) Cranford of South Carolina, Debra Lynn (Kent Douglas) Cranford of Prather, Wanda Julia Hernandez of Bakersfield, Laura Sue Cranford of Fresno, Robert Jeffery Cranford of Wisconsin, Shelba Jane Cranford of Wisconsin and Carmela Marie (Scott Hamm) of Wisconsin. She is also survived of many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Katherine was preceded in death by her maternal and paternal grandparents, parents, husbands; William, John and Herbert, a son William Wallace II, a son-in-law Zenaido Hernandez and granddaughter Ashley Michelle Torres.
Katherine was a talented artist, pianist and writer. She saw beauty in ordinary things and had the ability to turn the mundane into something magical. She had a strength and warmth about her that was always comforting to others. She maintained a sense of humor even in her most tumultuous times, something that she has passed to her decedents.