By: Jenna Rose Lee, Marketing Specialist
For anyone who knows Kathy, meeting her for the first time feels like reconnecting with your lifelong friend. She’s just one of those people. Undeniably warm, obviously funny, and sweet as can be. Kathy has lived an amazing life devoted to God, family, friends, and the farm, with ups, downs, and everything in between. I sat down with her to learn a little more about her personal story and how she became the Matriarch of Harney Lane.
Kathy was one of three children, born in Stockton, California, to Jim and Opal Jones. She attended Lincoln High School and met her future husband, George Mettler, at the neighboring school, Lodi High.
After graduation, Kathy studied at Delta College. She reconnected with George and they dated for one short year before getting engaged on New Year’s Eve. They quickly married on April 18th, 1964 at Zion Reform Church in Lodi, one month after George turned 21. Kathy was only 19 years old at the time. “We really grew up together, because we didn’t realize it, but we were only kids at the time,” Kathy added.
In that same year, Grandpa Henry Schnaidt passed away and George took over their family ranch. Kathy and George still lived in town for the first year and a half until they moved into the house on Harney Lane with Grandma Schnaidt (this happens to be the same house Kathy still lives in, sitting in our garden just behind the tasting room). George was busy farming wine grapes and Tokay’s (table grapes), and Kathy spent her days working at Macy’s in Stockton.
Three years into marriage, Jorja, their one and only daughter, came into the world. Jorja was, of course, named after her father, George, but got her uniquely-spelled name from a book Kathy’s mother was reading at the time about a blonde, blue-eyed girl named Jorja. Something about it just felt right. Safe to say, it stuck.
When Jorja was born, Kathy fully devoted her life as a mom and wife. She enjoyed taking Jorja and her friends all over town for swimming lessons, softball practice, and other extracurriculars. When she was at home, she was always busy making lunches, driving tractor for George, or doing the books for the farm.
“Being a farmer wasn’t always easy but there were some good things. Some days we’d take off to Lake Hogan and go on our ski boat,” said Kathy. The farm provided Kathy a life in which her and George could spend a lot of quality time together, something they both enjoyed and look back on with fondness.
In the blink of an eye, Jorja was all grown and studying to become a physical therapist. Jorja started locally at Delta College and then went on to finish her degree at Fresno State. “White Zin put her through college,” Kathy added. At the time, Zinfandel was making decent money, and in turn, this varietal also made a lot of wine drinkers. Kathy was amused that “simply picking a grape earlier than normal would create an entirely different wine that made everyone a rosé fan.”
Throughout college Jorja dated Kyle Lerner, a Stockton boy. They had met in the band while at Tokay High School and the rest was history. The two got married at the same church as Kathy and George, Zion Reformed Church in Lodi, and started a life together. At the time, farming wasn’t a part of either of their lives or careers with Jorja pursuing physical therapy and Kyle working in sales.
In 1998 Kathy’s life drastically changed with the onset of George’s first battle with prostate cancer. With surgery and a good recovery, George’s fight with cancer carried on for about a year. With Kyle around now, he offered to help George around the ranch. Kyle didn’t have any farming experience at the time, but George graciously accepted the help. Just as he would have it, George had turned a sales professional into a farmer.
After Kyle learned the ropes of the farming business over the course of a few years, Kyle and Jorja came over to dinner at Kathy and George’s just as they would any other night. “Except this time they came with a folder,” added Kathy. That night, Kyle and Jorja shared their idea of building a winery and tasting room in which they would share their own estate-grown wine.
“From that moment, my life changed for the better.” Kathy followed by saying, “I also started praying a lot.” She eventually called up their friend and architect, Robert Morris, to help design the tasting room. From there, Kyle and Jorja worked hard to build Harney Lane into a thriving business with strong values, a sense of community, and a high-quality product. “That was all them,” Kathy said.
George faced his second battle with cancer soon thereafter and Kathy had to take some time off from working in the tasting room, a place she loved to spend her time. By the grace of God, George went fly fishing in Alaska with some beloved friends one last time in August of 2012. On February 15, 2013 George went to be with God.
“My saving grace has always been the tasting room and the people. It got me through some really tough times,” said Kathy. “After George’s death I really had to figure out who I was without him.” Kathy went on to add, “That’s why club members mean so much. We had a club member that went through cancer the same time as George and she would call him to recommend different foods he could eat during chemo, and really just check-in on him.”
Today Kathy’s life is more full than ever. Jokingly she mentioned, “I finally came out of my shell, but went a little too far.” Kathy is undeniably herself, and sometimes hilariously inappropriate her grandkids might say.
Kirsten and Ian, her only two grandchildren, have brought her more joy than she could have ever imagined. Kathy spent a lot of days watching Kirsten, Ian, and her nephew Michael when they were young. She loves watching them grow up into neat young adults, especially because “they still let me be silly with them,” added Kathy.
Kathy has also stayed in touch with a close group of high school friends. They still get together every month and never run out of things to talk about. She appreciates how rare it is to have a close group of friends for such a long period of time.
While Kathy is technically retired from her “day job” at Harney Lane, you will often see her coming over to the tasting room or office to chat almost every single day. She helps lead monthly tours, dries glasses, welcomes customers, and so much more. To Kathy, she treats everyone at Harney Lane like family because, to her, they are family.
