Kathryn J. Thorpe

Age 100, long time resident of Southbury, CT.

Kathryn (Kay) passed away September 28, 2019 peacefully at home, surrounded by immediate family members. She was a current resident of Leominster, MA, after previously living at Heritage Village, Southbury, CT for 27 years.

Born at Camp Dodge, DeMoines, Iowa on July 6, 1919, the daughter of
Major Arthur Marion Jones and Edith (Crandell). She is survived by her son Richard and his wife Carleen (Babineau), her daughter Caroline Crandell Thorpe and her husband Lee Reilly Powell of Waldorf, MD. Also survived by her grandaughter Kathryn M. Thorpe of Edison, NJ, her nieces Leah J. Moe of Salem, OR and Whitney J. Kieffer and her husband Dan Kieffer of Minneapolis, MN. She is pre-deceased by her
husband, Dawson K. Thorpe and her brother Richard L. Jones of Amity, Oregon.

She grew-up on Long Island in Freeport, New York. After graduating Freeport High School, she attended Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, NY and graduated with a BA in English in 1941. Moving to New York City, she worked in the book publishing field with several employers including, McGraw Hill, Oxford University Press, and Doubleday with a final position as an Editor. In 1954, she married Dawson Kingsley Thorpe who worked for the R. Hoe and Co. (Printing presses) in New York City. They lived in Scarsdale for the next 18 years. She and her husband were very active with Greenville Community Church. She was a charter member in the founding of the Greenville Community Theater, which is still in existence.

In 1971, she and her family moved to Ledyard, Connecticut. During this time, her husband started a business in accounting and tax preparation. It was here that she volunteered at the Bill Ledyard Library, the Ledyard Congregational Church on the Women’s Fellowship Board, both locally and at the state conference level. In addition, she was involved with the Ledyard Fair and with numerous local conservation groups.

In 1989, Kay and her husband retired and moved to Heritage Village, Southbury, CT. Her husband, died shortly thereafter. She lived there for 27 years. She volunteered at the Southbury Public Library for over 20 years. Here she repaired and restored books after learning book binding. In this role, she was instrumental in showing other volunteers book repair and restoration which resulted in saving thousands of books for the library. Other volunteer activities through the years included, the Historical Society (Book Preservation), Meals on Wheels, knitting mittens and shawls for various causes. She also enjoyed art shows, her miniature doll house collection, attending the ballet, participating in the local Audubon chapter, playing bridge, hiking and canoeing (which she discovered at the age of 65).

In 2016 she moved to Leominster MA to live with her son and daughter in-law who were her care-takers until her death.

There will be a private service at a later date, where Kay’s ashes will be interred in Freeport, NY.

Donations to the National Parks Conservation Association can be made in her memory, to help support her love for nature and our National Parks.

National Parks Conservation Association:
777 6th Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-3723

Site Link: https://www.npca.org

Donation Link and Memorial Address Below: https://www.npca.org/give/memorial-tribute-giving

In Memory of Kathryn J. Thorpe
C/O Richard Thorpe
P.O. Box 1469
Leominster, MA 01453