The woman who founded a Kennewick chocolate and candy shop that served the Tri-Cities for more than 40 years has died. 

Kathryn Baumgarten died Feb. 5, according to an obituary from Einan’s at Sunset Funeral Home. She and her late husband George Baumgarten opened Baum’s Candy, which was last located at 513 N. Edison St., in 1981. She retired in 2008, though its new owners continued to use her recipes until they retired and closed the business in 2024. 

“This was her lifelong dream, a job she loved so it was never work,” read her obituary about her time running the chocolate shop. 

Baumgarten was born in Colorado and she and her husband spent the first 20 years of their marriage there after eloping in 1957.  

The couple moved to Richland in 1978 to work for her brother who owned Tri-City Fence. A few years later they opened the chocolate and candy shop, with George becoming a bus driver for Ben Franklin Transit “so she could afford her ‘expensive hobby.’” 

By the time Baum’s Candy closed in 2024, it had filled a 12,500-square-foot store with its sweet treats but also party supplies, balloons and even costumes during Halloween.  

The former chocolate shop became the Kennewick location of local thrift store chain Community Thrift in 2025. 

A memorial service for Baumgarten is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 21 at Richland Lutheran Church with a celebration of life at Baumgarten's residence in West Richland following the service.