We have had cats as long as we can remember. Our first encounter with a Maine Coon 'type' cat was at our home in the Summer of 1979. When we returned from a vacation, our sons had returned from the Palouse area of Eastern Washington with 2 farm kittens. One of them had been caught between barn doors and had scraped away the fur on it's nose and paws trying to escape. Our sons, like Fred before them, rescued the kitty from what they thought was certain death. With 4 adult cats in the house already, Elaine's first reaction was to find another home for the little 'waif'. That first night, the kitten, who couldn't have been more than 6-8 weeks old, climbed up on the bed and snuggled in Elaine's long hair and purred, and purred, and purred. The next morning, the kitten had been given the name Smokey. Nothing more was ever said about placing the kitten in another home.

    As Smokey developed, we saw blossom before our eyes the most beautiful black smoke, long-haired, Maine Coon 'type' cat we'd ever seen. (Her picture is at the top of this page.) For 13 years, Smokey graced our home with her kittenish antics, wonderful personality, and constant love and affection. The last five years of her life Fred had a morning ritual with Smokey. He would put her on the kitchen counter while she waited patiently for the daily injection of insulin. She had been diagnosed with diabetes. On December 31, 1992, Smokey crossed the "Rainbow Bridge". Her hearty spirit has continued and will remain with us forever.

    After Smokey passed away, we began our search in earnest for another cat(s) like her. We found it in the registered Maine Coon cat. We are especially grateful to Betsy & Dave Tinney (Pinecoon) for allowing us to bring into our home two litter sisters -- Pinecoon's Moonshadow and Pinecoon's Tiffany (silver torbies). They have comforted us many, many times beyond belief.

    When we finally decided that we wanted to establish a cattery, our ONLY breed choice was the Maine Coon and the ONLY possible cattery name for us was for our Smokey -- thus SmokeyCoons. We are also very grateful to Barb Solga and Doug Thomas (DarMorev) for our very first Maine Coon queen -- CH DarMorev Chantilly Lace (brown torbie and white) "Lacey". She produced our very first GRAND -- GP SmokeyCoons Braveheart "Mel".