Lasting Memories

Katherine Clancy
March 3, 1944-Dec. 7, 2025
Palo Alto, California

To know Katie Clancy was to love her.

On December 7, 2025, Katie passed away peacefully at her home in Palo Alto, where she lived for 51 years. She was 81.

Katie was born on March 3, 1944, in Montreal, Canada to William and Hazel Sinclair. She was the youngest of three daughters, attended Montreal High School and graduated with honors from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Nursing School. In 1966, Katie moved to California and worked as an ICU nurse at Stanford Hospital, caring for the first adult heart transplant patients. There she met the love of her life Tom Clancy, a young neurosurgical resident. Together they moved to Washington, D.C. to work at the National Institutes of Health and were married in 1969.

Returning to Palo Alto, Katie and Tom built a full and vibrant life as they raised their two daughters. The doors to the “casa” were always open, their home a gathering place full of laughter and love. In 1980, the family embraced adventure wholeheartedly, spending a year sailing down the coast of Mexico on a 40-foot sailboat. During her lifetime, Katie circled the globe several times. She loved traveling with family and friends and the connections she made with people and cultures wherever she went.

Katie enjoyed tennis, golf and skiing in Breckenridge. After the passing of her husband, Katie’s strength and optimism carried her forward as she devoted herself to her daughters and the lifelong friendships she cherished. Her spirit of courage, warmth, and saying yes to life will live on in those who knew her.

Katie is survived by her daughters, Jeannie Clancy and Heather Clancy; nephews Chris Trider and Rob Gile; nieces Jessica, JeanAnne, and Irene Donnell, and Jule Bagley (Tom Bagley); and her brother-in-law, Robert Gile. She was predeceased by her husband, Thomas Clancy, and her sisters, Mary Gile and Jean Donnell (James Donnell).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Katie’s memory to Heart Fit or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), supporting causes she championed through her own remarkable journey. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 24, Katie always remembered what her doctor told her, “Live your life not your disease” and she did so fully.

A Celebration of Life will be held on January 18, 2026.