Katherine was born in Fresno, CA.
Katherine (Kathy) Tozlian Schmall passed away peacefully in Santa Barbara on December 8, 2022, with her daughter beside her. She was 97 years old. Kathy had lived in Santa Barbara for the past five years, after leaving her home in Morro Bay shortly after the death of her husband. She is survived by her daughter Deborah Schmall and daughter-in-law Peggy Garner, her granddaughter Cynthia Dahlquist and grandson-in-law Jesper Dahlquist, her three great-grandsons Jayce, Jaxxon, and Jonah, her sister-in-law Joan Schmall, and many nieces and nephews from the Tozlian and Ed Schmall family. Kathy’s husband Edward Schmall, her daughter Pamela Molina and her granddaughter Allison Molina predeceased her, as did her sisters Florence Tatoian and Pearl Minenna and her brother Mike Tozlian and beloved sister-in-law Judy Tozlian.
She was born in Fresno to Harry and Rose Tozlian, lived and attended secondary school near Fowler, and graduated from Fresno Technical High School in 1943. She played clarinet in the school band. She met her husband Ed in 1945 through her future in-laws George and Freda Schmall, and married in 1948. They were married for 65 years, until he died in 2013. Together they enjoyed travel in Europe, China and Southeast Asia, and many trips to visit their daughter Deborah in New York and Washington D.C.
Kathy almost always worked outside the home, mainly in the area of finance. She began work for the State Center Credit Union in 1968, becoming its Manager and then CEO in 1970. She retired from her position as CEO in 1992, and immediately was elected to the Board of Directors by the members of the credit union. She believed strongly that the mission and actions of the credit union were to serve its members, and she devoted her career to that cause. She prided herself on “telling it like it is”, and did not shy away from her role as an outspoken advocate on issues important to credit union members. She called her credit union colleagues her second family, and developed many close friends there with whom she enjoyed professional and personal travel.
Her other loves included Frank Sinatra, Shasta Lake houseboating, the Fresno State Bulldogs and pre-game tailgating, the Central California coast, and Armenian food. She served for many years on the Ladies Guild of the St. Paul Armenian Church.
More than anything, she was devoted to family, both hers and the extended family of her sisters and brother and their children, and she hosted many large family gatherings at her homes in Fresno and Morro Bay.
Her Funeral Service will be held on Monday, December 19, at 11 am in the Chapel at the Whitehurst Sullivan Burns & Blair funeral home at 836 E. Nees Avenue in Fresno. The officiate will be Reverend Father Yessai Bedros, parish priest of St. Paul Armenian Church.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.whitehurstsullivan.com for the Schmall family.
