After being diagnosed with three separate types of cancer in six years, Kathryn Mae Goyne has no intention of giving up.
“They told me years ago that I was going to die in six months, and I’m still here,” the 53-year-old Goyne said.
Goyne, born in Port Angeles, is taking the same tact in searching for her biological mother.
Her daughter, Mary Goyne, started the search in earnest earlier this month with a Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-FamilySearch, through which she’s soliciting any information she can find about the parents who put her mother up for adoption at age 2.
The main goal of the search, Mary Goyne said, is to at least find some medical history about her mother’s biological parents to see whether there is a history of cancer there.
“I would like to share what family history we find with my kids, too,” Mary Goyne said.
‘Feisty lady’
Kathryn Goyne started battling brain cancer in 2008, her daughter said, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2012 that has now spread to her liver.
“She’s quite the feisty lady,” Mary Goyne said of her mother.
“She’s actually in really good spirits. She’s a fighter; she has been all her life.”
With the help of a family friend’s research, Mary Goyne said she has found that her mother’s biological father’s name was Oliver Harvey Walthrop, who died in 1973 at age 47.
Kathryn Goyne’s mother’s first name was likely Mary Louise, Mary Goyne said, though a surname has so far proved elusive.
Mary Goyne said her mother has been told that her biological mother does not want to be contacted by her children, though Mary said she hopes another family member would be willing to come forward to share information.
Other children
The Goynes also have learned that Kathryn’s biological mother and father had a daughter and son, Dorothy and Jimmy, the latter of whom was put up for adoption at an unknown age.
Dorothy was never put up for adoption, Mary Goyne added.
“Jimmy may actually own a shoe store somewhere in or around Port Angeles,” she said.
“We don’t know yet.”
Roy B. Wright and Mary Wright adopted Kathryn Goyne and raised her in Port Angeles until she was about 18, Mary Goyne said.
Kathryn Goyne now lives in Okanogan with her son and daughter-in-law, while Mary lives in Spokane.
Throughout the search, Kathryn Goyne said she intends to keep one thing in mind:
“Just don’t give up, that’s the biggest thing, especially with cancer, and don’t give up with family.”
The Goynes are asking anyone with information about Kathryn’s biological mother to contact them through the Facebook page Mary Goyne created.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
