Kathleen Cartmill Travis

Kathleen Cartmill Travis, 97, of Clatskanie, Oregon, died Jan. 4, 2020, in Longview, Washington.

She was born at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 24, 1922, to Viola and Alfred Cartmill.

At age 5, her mother started her in the Jesse Maris School of Dance, featuring ballet classes. When Kathleen was 13, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where she enrolled in the Franchon and Marco dance studio. It jump-started the careers of dancers and actresses like Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Doris Day and others. While there, she took ballet, tap, acrobatics and Spanish dancing.

Around the time Kathleen graduated from high school, she began auditioning at various studios. They were 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios and MGM. After working at various places, she landed a seven-year contract with MGM to perform as a dancer in films.

At 19, when World War II began, Kathleen spent a year traveling with shows that entertained troops with a variety of acts. While still under contract with MGM, she took a year leave of absence to go dance with various shows in New York City.

Upon returning to California, she was in several musicals, and became acquainted with Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Red Skelton. In 1950, she retired from professional dancing and taught dance in the Los Angeles area for some time.

Kathleen earned a degree in merchandising from the University of California and was hired by Kayser Co. She traveled the 11 western states for eight years as a representative for hosiery, lingerie and gloves. Later she worked as a buyer for Neiman Marcus.

She was married briefly to actor Jimmy Ferrera in 1942. Kathleen later married Paul Travis, living in Washington, D.C., and continued teaching ballet. They had a daughter Holly, in 1955.

Returning to southern California, she taught fitness programs at several spas. Later she taught water and land exercise for the Arthritis Foundation.

In 2004 she moved to Astoria, Oregon, to be closer to family. A year later she moved to the Amber Assisted Living in Clatskanie, Oregon. Kathleen has been faithfully cared for through the years by her cousin, Jean.

Survivors are daughter Holly Travis, granddaughter Shannon (Tony) De Jesus and grandson Justin Yandell, all of San Diego, California. Special to her were her cousins, Nancy (Bill) Maki of Pierce, Idaho, and Jean Estoos, Ann (Ralph) Peitsch, Linda Takalo and John (Barbara) Estoos, all of Astoria, Oregon.

A graveside service will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria.