Obituary: Katherine Roth
November 27, 1964 – December 30, 2024
On December 30th, 2024, Katherine “Keta” Roth passed away peacefully in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Keta was 60 years young, and had had big plans to be a very, very old lady in a rocking chair. Keta is survived first and foremost by her three “children”: Jasper, the dog, and Valentino and Arabella, the cats. She is also survived by her mother, Linda Bergquist Guy of Palm City, Florida and her father, Col. William E. Roth, of Lawrence, Kansas and also her stepbrothers, Mike and Ted Guy of Arizona and Damon Roth from Carbondale, her half siblings, Marshall Roth of Abu Dhabi, Omar Roth of Ohio and Maya Roth from Kansas, and of course her sister, Elizabeth Thannum from Los Angeles.
Note: Please go to https://www.yampavalleyfh.com/obits to read Keta’s full obituary.
Keta was born in Redondo Beach, California on November 27th, 1964 at Torrance Hospital. Her childhood was filled with the adventures of military life. She lived in 9 states, Spain, Panama and Iran before she even reached high school, which probably inspired her life-long love of travel! Her family remembers her as easy going, but also inquisitive, smart as a whip and tenacious. She always enjoyed the moment, and she had a serious work ethic. Her first job was as a waitress at The Shiraz Club – at age 13! This was also when she started to develop her well-known bravery. She had her very own Argo moment in Iran, and was on one of the last flights out when the Shah fell.
After returning to the states, this time Texas, she thrived in theatre and on Dance Team in high school, and was then accepted to Texas A&M University as an electrical engineer major in the fall of 1982, where she made the bold decision to join the Corps of Cadets. That year, 40 women entered the Corps, but Keta was one of only three who completed all four challenging years. As a sophomore, Keta served as the guidon bearer, a prestigious role reflecting her commitment and discipline. In addition to her responsibilities within the Corps, she was also an active member of the Women’s Drill Team. The popular team performed at several notable events, including 2 times at Mardi Gras. In her senior year, she rose to the distinguished role of Commanding Officer (CO) of her squadron, exemplifying her leadership and dedication.
Balancing school and the rigorous demands of the Corps would have been more than enough for most, but not for Keta. She took on even more responsibility by joining the Marine Reserves, attending Boot Camp during the summer of her senior year, and continuing to drill one weekend every month for several years thereafter. She was called up and served during the Gulf War, and “suffered” for a whole year being stationed in Maui, Hawaii!
Keta moved to Steamboat Springs in the 80’s after her graduation from Texas A&M. She joined her stepmother, Marty Roth, a fixture of Ski Corp by that point, and her brothers, Damon and Marshall. They had already “conquered” Ski Town USA, Damon was a downhill racer and Marshall a ski jumper, and a thing of note – the boys were 2 of the very first riders of the new Gondola installed by Hans Geier! Keta fit right in and fell in love with the mountain, the laid-back locals, and the hard-working small town vibe. One of her favorite sayings was to say that everyone in Steamboat had the same middle name – “So and so, who works at…”. She, herself was very proud to work at Mattie Silks, the hottest restaurant in Steamboat at the time. And she always took credit for getting Marshall his first job there. (He went on to graduate from CIA and is now an executive chef at the Four Seasons in Abu Dhabi). She picked up shifts at several other restaurants like Hazies as well, was a ski school “rookie”, and she was also an avid actress performing often at the old 7th Street Melodrama. The 7th Street starring role she loved the very most was when she played Olive in the all-female production of The Odd Couple.
In the early 90’s, Keta decided to move to Denver, where she was part of The Denver Center Theatre Company’s vaunted production of “Black Elk Speaks”. Soon after it was on to Chicago to really pursue her big city dreams. She worked for the University of Illinois for 10 years, but as this was Keta, she also had a thriving restaurant career. Her all-time favorite was Zaven’s, one of downtown Chicago’s romantic hideaway restaurants. She considered Zaven’s her home away from home while she lived there.
She still squeezed in extra hours in the day (and night!) to take acting and voice lessons, stage manage and act in small productions and further her craft. So when Provision Theater Company burst onto the Chicago theater scene in 2004, with unanimous critical praise, Keta was poised to be involved in several of their productions, acting in the highly acclaimed “The Hiding Place”, among others. She even had a local film career!
But one of Keta’s most precious achievements was her sobriety, starting in 1995. This year her Chicago AA community will celebrate her 30-year anniversary in April, posthumously. She dedicated prodigious amounts of her incredible energy into Alcoholics Anonymous, serving, organizing and ultimately chairing the considerable We Are Not Saints AA conference for several years while sponsoring people all across the country. At one time she had nearly 20 sponsees! Keta’s impact in AA has rippled through thousands of lives and her legacy will live on for generations.
When Keta was ready to move back “home” to Steamboat in 2016, she continued with her love for fine dining, working at the prestigious E3 Chophouse. She was one of the few employees who kept E3 open (and Steamboat fed!) during the pandemic, basically serving as manager and every position in between. She was thrilled to be able to teach Ski School again, always her top priority once the snow started to fall. She worked all year part time for Main Street but her joy was in being an ambassador for the Steamboat Farmers Market every summer. She also worked part time for Davidson Accounting, and, managed to become certified as a life coach on the side. Of course she immediately became a regular Piknik Theatre player, and was able to fulfill one of her lifelong goals the summer she starred as Lady Macbeth in their acclaimed production at the St.Paul Church. All of her 10,000 hours of expertise across so many fields finally coalesced this past year when she was recruited to work at The Foundry. Although she was only there briefly due to her diagnosis, it was truly her dream job to impact others’ lives through recovery.
Starting in May of 2024, Keta spent most of her time at the Yampa Valley Medical Center and the Jan Bishop Cancer Center. The care, compassion and camaraderie from everyone who works there were unparalleled, and made her days rich with humanity and humor. At the end of her life, she was blessed to receive care with Northwest Colorado Health Hospice at Casey’s Pond. Everyone with Hospice and at the “The Doak” treated Keta like a treasured family member, with kindness, competence and dignity. Keta’s family will be eternally grateful that her last year was filled with so much “small town” love from these highly professional staffs. We will remember them with fondness forever.
All Keta’s achievements were a reflection of her unwavering determination, strength, and character. She was always brave and compassionate, and she continues to be an inspiration to all who knew her. She enjoyed a life full of love and wonder here, and she wanted these words to be an ode to Steamboat. Her deeply felt gratitude for the people, the beauty, and the community of this valley is one of the main reasons why Keta’s life was so full. Thank you, Steamboat.

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