and east of the State Capitol Building is a park bench with bronze plaque imbedded in concrete in front of the bench that reads:
I did some online research on Ms. Snodgrass and located an online obituary from SFGate that reads:
2004-04-10 -- Kathleen J. Snodgrass, who rose from humble Napa roots to become one of the Capitol's most respected and influential lobbyists, died at her home Monday of cancer. She was 56.
As tenacious in defending her clients as she was in fighting the disease that killed her, Ms. Snodgrass had a circle of friends who included a covey of self-described "power chicks," CEOs, casino owners, administration officials and lawmakers.
Her annual women's holiday hat party -- hats mandatory, gloves optional -- grew from a small gathering of her fellow power chicks to a who's who of women at the Capitol, the female equivalent of an invitation to the Bohemian Grove.
"There's a sadness for us because she's not here, but no sadness for Kathy. She did it her way," said former Assembly Speaker and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who Ms. Snodgrass worked for as his legal counsel from 1982 to 1985.
"She kept all her friends believing each was more special than the others, " Brown said.
When she joined with the former state Sen. Dennis Carpenter, in the mid- 1980s, they became one of the top lobbying firms in Sacramento -- a distinction the firm still holds.
"There will never be a good old boy network in Sacramento again, thanks to Kathy. She was a role model for a lot of people," said Bob White, former chief of staff to Gov. Pete Wilson and a close friend.
"She loved seeing women succeed," White said. "But more than that, she figured out how to compete with the big boys on their own terms."
Her clients included several major insurance companies whose CEOs, along with another client, Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino raconteur, Ms. Snodgrass counted as close friends.
From the old school of Sacramento politics -- in which legislative opponents tilted mightily as adversaries by day but ate and drank together at night -- Ms. Snodgrass had a gift of bringing disparate people together.
At weekly bridge games at her home, Ms. Snodgrass' partner was George Dunn, a deputy chief of staff to then Gov. Pete Wilson. Their opponents were White and John Mockler, a fiery liberal education lobbyist often critical of Wilson's public school policies.
Ms. Snodgrass' lobbying income paid for Jaguar sedans, designer clothes, mink, trips to Europe and New York and always golf, about which she was passionate in part because she met her husband, Woody Pascoe, at Pebble Beach where he was a caddy.
But the money also was spent on numerous charities and paid for annual gifts of beautiful holiday gowns for her four nieces and other children she doted on, like Brown's granddaughters. Her four nephews were well treated, too.
"Everyone talks about her being powerful and throwing great parties, but she had a lot of love in her," said Mockler. "She was incredibly generous with her time and efforts. If you had a problem, you'd go see Kathy."
Born and raised in Napa, Ms. Snodgrass graduated from Napa High School, UC Berkeley and the UC Davis School of Law. From 1973 to 1977, she was a Sacramento deputy district attorney, prosecuting accused felons.
She is survived by her husband; her parents, Delores and John Bailey of Napa; two sisters, Becky Miles of San Rafael and Christie Miller of Pacific Grove; a brother, Richard Bailey of Fair Oaks; and numerous nephews and nieces.