Karen Worthy, the more cautious partner in the effort to save the Davenport Hotel, dies at 81

Karen Worthy, the quiet but stern partner in the effort to save a historic Spokane landmark, died earlier this month. She was 81.

Those who knew her said the first-grade teacher married to developer Walt Worthy played an essential role in the couple’s ultimately successful endeavor preserving the Davenport Hotel. The project often is credited for being a major spark giving new life to downtown Spokane.

Karen L. Worthy, who spent 20 years teaching first grade at Balboa Elementary School in north Spokane, died on Nov. 7, five days after her 51st wedding anniversary with Walt, who is 79.

“It was a rewarding, exhilarating and gut-wrenching trip,” Walt Worthy said. “She was a really good partner. No question about it.”

The couple had been living full-time in their condominium in Singer Island, Florida, since December 2021, when they sold their five Spokane hotel properties, including the historic Davenport and the Davenport Grand, to a Colorado-based private capital firm for more than $200 million.

The couple first bought a condo in the area, which is just east of the Riviera Beach area of West Palm Beach, in 1992. They bought their third condominium there in 2018 for $7.6 million, which set a record at the time for a condo on Singer Island.

“It’s right on the ocean and intercoastal waterway. It has a view of sunsets and sunrises,” Walt Worthy said. “There isn’t a better place in the world that I know of.”

He said the couple had been staying in Florida part-time between projects before transitioning there full-time over the past several years. The move also coincided with Karen Worthy’s health problems.

For about the past five years, Karen Worthy had suffered from a degenerative neurological disease that progressed before her death.

“She’s definitely in a better place,” Walt Worthy said.

From teacher to business manager

Karen Worthy was born Karen L. Milanowski on May 30, 1944, in Centralia, Washington.

She later came to Spokane and began working as a first-grade teacher.

Walt Worthy said he had also come to Spokane and was working as an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Survival School.

“One of my buddies was dating another schoolteacher who was a friend of Karen’s,” Worthy said.

On their way to pick up his date, Walt said he and his friend stopped at one of Harlan Douglass’s apartments.

“Karen was there chatting with friends. I got her phone number and we started going out,” he said. “Four years later, or so, we got married.”

After their marriage in 1974, Karen Worthy continued to teach.

But in her spare time, she began helping out Walt with his many projects, including the Rock Pointe Corporate Center first built in 1986. Those office buildings at the corner of Mallon Avenue and Washington Street later sold in 2005 to a Tacoma real estate firm for about $82.8 million.

While the Worthys also built office buildings in Spokane Valley and made other purchases of real estate in downtown Spokane, nothing compared to the decision in 2000 to spend $6.5 million on an entire city block that contained the Historic Davenport Hotel.

Designed by renowned architect Kirtland Cutter, the massive structure faced potential demolition because of asbestos contained within its walls.

But the Worthys made a go of bringing it back to life.

“To begin with, she was making sure we got all the bills paid on time. A lot of days, we didn’t know how we were going to make payroll finishing the Davenport,” he said. “She took care of anything that fell through the cracks. She did everything she could to make sure it worked out.”

The couple eventually spent about $35 million on what became a cornerstone of further economic activity in downtown.

Lynnelle Caudill worked with the Worthys for about 23 years. She was there at the beginning and later when the couple sold their five hotel properties in 2021.

“I met them just after they purchased (the Historic Davenport) and offered to help them in any way, to be a hotel nerd. I loved the hotel industry. I really enjoyed what I did,” Caudill said. “I worked up the ranks with them. I’d still be there if they hadn’t sold.”

Walt remained the brash voice and face of the project, while Karen quietly kept all the other facets of the business moving through the re-construction, Caudill said.

“As developers, we had a small team,” Caudill said. “They were just one of those couples who did everything together. It’s kind of a sweet story.”

She described how Walt would come up with ideas and Karen would interject caution.

“He always had his foot on the gas. She would kind of pump the brakes when she needed to. She kept him in check,” Caudill said. “I think she was a very good sounding board. She would say, ‘Let’s sleep on this.’ She was good for him and us in that way.”

Later years

After the Historic Davenport became a raging success, the Worthys added the 21-story Davenport Tower in 2007; they purchased the Hotel Lusso in 2009; built the Davenport Grand Hotel in 2015 and purchased the Red Lion Hotel at the Park in 2018 before renaming it the Centennial.

All told, the hotels in and around downtown had about 1,700 rooms for guests.

“They had a huge impact on real estate in Spokane,” said Gordon Hester, president and CEO of the Kiemle Hagood commercial real estate firm. “I don’t think you would have seen the University District in and around downtown if they didn’t have the courage to do that.”

With that success and following the massive shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Worthys made it known they were looking to spend more time in their Florida retreat.

That end finally came with the sale of the five hotels in 2021.

“To them, that was their second home,” Caudill said of their Florida condo.

And while Karen Worthy gave up her teaching career to help her husband, she never lost touch with her roots.

“She’d see someone in the line at the grocery story, a parent or a former student. She got to see the kids she taught grow up, and that was a fun part for her,” Walt Worthy said. “She really took her teaching job seriously.”

The couple did not have children. They never really officially made the decision not to, but let their busy careers kind of play out.

They sold their holdings in Spokane and retired to Florida just as Karen Worthy’s health also began to deteriorate.

In the end, she requested that no memorial be held, Walt Worthy said.

“She didn’t want a service, and I don’t either. She didn’t want anybody being sad,” he said. “I just don’t enjoy funerals at all.”

Karen Worthy’s remains were cremated. They made one last journey.

Three of her caregivers and Walt Worthy went out on a boat on Monday, just off the coast from the condominium where they lived.

“All of us went out and put Karen’s ashes in the ocean,” Walt Worthy said. “I’m planning to join her there, a few years from now.”