COEUR d’ALENE — She is referred to good-naturedly by some as the barracuda.

A barracuda she is not. But she earned that moniker by serving for nearly a half-century for one of Idaho’s more prominent businessmen — both as a popular secretary but also a fiercely loyal gatekeeper.

If you want to talk to Hagadone Hospitality President Jerry Jaeger, you first have to go through Kathy “the barracuda” LaTourrette. And depending on who you are, that’s not an easy thing to do.

“I am very protective,” she said frankly and with a little hint of pride. “Screening calls and appointments. He gets a lot of requests for a lot of different things. It’s tough to weed them out.”

Well, her weeding-out, barracuda days are almost over. After 47 years, Jaeger and LaTourrette are folding their cards. They are retiring in two months.

“There have been a lot of changes. And a lot of good times,” she said. “But now that he’s retiring, I’m going to do the same.”

LaTourrette, a 67-year-old mother of three and grandmother of four, plans to spend more time with family, improve her golf game, travel with her husband and assimilate back into the community she grew up in during a simpler time.

Her grandparents moved to Coeur d’Alene from the Midwest and owned Hart Drug on the southwest corner of Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue.

“We’ve been here a long time,” she said.

Kathy’s family lived at 19th Street and Montana Avenue. She attended Harding Elementary and remembers walking across 15th Street from the school to buy penny candy at a mom-and-pop grocery store. Her young life was pretty carefree.

“It was fun growing up here,” she said. “We rode our bikes everywhere and didn’t think about danger or being in trouble.”

When she was 10, her great aunt, who owned a gift shop on Sherman, paid her in quarters to break down cardboard boxes, then would send her off to Hudson’s for hamburgers.

One of her favorite memories is Coeur d’Alene’s Fourth of July extravaganza.

“Coeur d’Alene is the best place on Earth to be on the Fourth. I make my entire family go to the parade,” she said.

Growing up, the family tradition was to ride the carousel at Playland Pier after the Fourth of July parade.

“I’m so excited the carousel is back. I grew up riding on that,” she said. “It was a very easy time — no electronics.”

Another family tradition was summer fun on the water. Her grandparents had a home on Hayden Lake, where Kathy and her brother spent time fishing. And her parents owned a 37-foot Chris-Craft.

“We lived on that boat part of the summer. It was so fun being on the lake,” she said. “I grew up in the era of the Diamond Cup. We used to watch that from our boat. We also had pit passes every year and enjoyed going down there and watching the action. And hoping it would come back.”

LaTourrette graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1968 after four years of making memories.

“Everybody drove at a young age in those days. Lots of parties and everybody went to ball games,” she said. “It was just a fun experience. Good times and a lot of friends that I’m still good friends with now.”

She enrolled at the University of Idaho and studied business administration until her father passed away at age 44. Kathy left college to help at home.

Then she received a phone call from Hagadone Corp. executive secretary Berni Dami, a friend of the family, suggesting she interview with a young guy who was about to become manager of the North Shore hotel.

“I interviewed with Jerry and started working for him,” LaTourrette said.

Jaeger was 22 at the time and Kathy was not far behind him. Perhaps the most memorable time during her 47 years with Jaeger was the conversion of Western Frontiers and the North Shore into Hagadone Hospitality and The Coeur d’Alene Resort in the mid-1980s.

“It was a busy time, but a very fun time,” she said. “A lot of construction and a lot of people. A lot of decisions to be made. A lot of meetings going on. It was a good time.”

LaTourrette said she’s ready for retirement but a little reluctant. During an interview in her picturesque perch in the Hagadone Corp. headquarters, she couldn’t resist keeping a watchful eye on boats entering and leaving The Resort marina.

“I will miss it, but it’s time for a new routine.” she said.

How will Hagadone Hospitality do without the Jaeger/LaTourrette team? Obviously those plans have already been made.

“Just move forward,” she said.