To those who knew her, Kathi Backus was a devoted community volunteer, whether it was trying to calm anxious felines dropped off at a local shelter for cats or restoring native plants on the Channel Islands.
And though she died suddenly in January, 2025, Backus’ legacy was evident last month as representatives of 13 organizations gathered at the Carpinteria Community Library to both remember her and to accept $75,000 checks from her estate.
Backus was a 79-year-old Santa Barbara woman who reveled in a wide variety of endeavors. Besides her volunteer work, she was a bird watcher, ham radio operator, gardener, animal lover and ragtime piano player. Beset by heart trouble, she arranged for her estate to be divided among the causes she cared the most about upon her death.
Her certified financial planner, Jeff Moorhouse, and a board member of the library, Ashley DeVan, were touched by her generosity. They felt her gifts deserved more than just having funds quietly deposited into the organizations’ accounts. Rather, they invited all the beneficiaries to meet both to receive the checks and celebrate the life of someone who lived modestly yet found it within herself to offer support to causes she cared about after her passing.
To DeVan, Backus’ bequests send a powerful message.
“Her story gently challenges a common misconception: that meaningful philanthropy is reserved for the ultra-wealthy,” DeVan wrote in an email to the News-Press. “She wasn’t a billionaire or the head of a foundation. She was someone who took the time to think about what mattered to her and made sure her values were reflected in her estate plans.”
Backus’ bequest to the Friends of the Carpinteria Library is the largest single gift from an individual it has ever received, De Van said. Backus’ estate also delivered checks for then Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, Channel Islands Restoration and the Red Cross.
The biggest bulk of the organizations benefitting from Backus’ estate were related to animals, both domesticated and wild. They included Animal Shelter Assistance Program for Cats (ASAP Cats), Best Friends Animal Society, Santa Barbara Humane,Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, Tree House Humane Society,Volunteers for Inter-Valley Animals (VIVA), Santa Barbara Audubon Society and Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation.
Kathi Backus was a Santa Barbara woman who dedicated herself to volunteerism and a wide variety of interests, which she remembered in her estate planning. (Photo courtesy of ASAP Cats)
Backus had lived for years in a cluttered home that had been passed down to her. Ken Owen, executive director of Channel Islands Restoration, recalls a visit to the house where he was able to see her gardens. At least five cats roamed the property.
She was also keenly intelligent and inquisitive about the world around her. For instance, Backus had also had a passion for learning to identify both plants and birds.
“She preferred scientific names over common names,” Owen said. “She liked to show off a bit.”
Owen said he spent four days with Backus once on the Channel Islands where they were working to restore native plants. And he bonded, too, over their mutual interest in ham radio. Without hesitation, he can recall her call sign: KF5WB.
“She was a lot of fun to be around and had a terrific sense of humor,” he added.
The Syncopated Times, a website devoted to jazz, ragtime and swing, described Backus as a “well known figure in the California ragtime community,” both as a performer and composer. She played at a Los Angeles club in the 1970s and one of her original rags, the “Skunk Hollow Blues,” was recorded on a CD.
Moorhouse, based in Ventura, said he got to know her after over 25 years of managing her finances. In contrast to more high-powered clients, he said Backus was working at Blue Gem Sunglasses when he first met her. He helped her cultivate her living trust, starting with 10 organizations that morphed into 13, with the knowledge of her love of birds and other animals.
A board honoring the work of the late Kathi Backus for the ceremony at the Carpinteria Community LIbrary on Feb. 19, 2026 (Photo by Robin Karlsson)
Once Moorhouse said he returned from a duck hunting trip. Backus phoned him having apparently seen a photo of his trip on social media. Braced for a verbal lashing over his choice of sports, Backus surprised him by instead saluting hunters. Their hunting license fees help pay for wildlife habitat restoration, she explained. Needless to say, Moorhouse was relieved.
Backus volunteered every Monday for about two decades at ASAP Cats on Overpass Road, said Executive Director Jessica Wiebe. Backus liked to handle intake of cats being brought to the shelter, often strays or kitties that owners say they can no longer care for.
“Kathi liked it because there were less people and more cats,” Wiebe said. Backus’ reserved temperament and soothing approach suited her well to the task. “She was kind of quiet but told you what she thought.”
Wiebe said Backus donated to ASAP Cats over the years but she was surprised at the post-mortem gift of $75,000. “I never knew she had such assets,” Wiebe said. The proceeds are going to care for cats, including a mobile spay and neuter unit —deemed important for an adoption organization that takes in and tries to find homes for about 1,300 cats a year.
The Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation intends to devote its share to a conservation center at California State University, Channel Islands. It’s expected to open by 2030. “We’re really excited about building a center where students and conservation scientists can work together,” said Liz Hahn, director of advancement.
Some of the other organizations either haven’t chosen a particular need to fulfill with the hefty donation. With ongoing programs like bird watching excursions and bird count trips for both adults and kids as well as a devotion to protection of open spaces, the Santa Barbara Audubon Society said the funds are much appreciated.
“We are really honored to have been selected for this. It’s energizing,” said Executive Director Katherine Emery.
Friends of the Carpinteria Library, also, hasn’t earmarked the funds for any special project. But DeVan said the money sure is appreciated. And in some ways, unexpected. After all, she said Backus only came to know the library from having stumbled upon it: it’s where the bus stop is situated.
“Santa Barbara is no stranger to generosity. We have galas, naming opportunities, plaques, benches, and buildings that tell the story of big gifts made in visible ways,” according to DeVan. “But every so often, a story surfaces that reminds you philanthropy doesn’t have to be loud to be transformative.
“That’s the story of Kathi Backus.”
