Katharine Kelly

Katharine Kelly

July 23, 1947 – August 3, 2020

Katharine Kelly passed away on August 3, 2020 at her home in Ithaca after a short struggle with cancer. Kathy was a teacher in the Ithaca School district for 35 years and was known and loved by generations of students in the early primary grades. Anyone who knew Kathy - including her seven-year-old second graders - knows she was a force to be reckoned with. She ran a tight (and quiet) ship and her kids thrived. She was also loved by the families of her students, and recognized as an outstanding teacher by her colleagues, who were some of her closest friends. She cherished her relationship with these friends long after she retired in 2009. In retirement, she continued to volunteer as a tutor to individual students in the Golden Opportunity (GO) program.

Kathy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 23, 1947 and came to Ithaca in her early teens, when her father, Burnham Kelly, was appointed dean of Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She was accompanied by her mother Jean, her sister Leila, and her brothers Sherman, Wells, and Hugh. Kathy attended Ithaca High School and the University of Wisconsin, returned to Ithaca in 1971, and began teaching, first at Northeast, then at East Hill, while completing an MS in Education at SUNY Cortland.

She married Jim Jenkins in 1983 and gave birth to twin sons, Tom and Peter, in 1984. She interrupted her teaching to accompany Jim, Tom, and Peter on sabbatical visits to Florida, California, Massachusetts, France, and Italy, where she developed additional lifelong friends. In Ithaca, she devoted time and energy to the Family Reading Partnership and Cornell’s Botanical Garden, and recently enjoyed being part of the organization of the fiftieth reunion of her Ithaca High School class.

Kathy was predeceased by her parents and her brother Wells. She is survived by Jim, Tom (Catherine Schutz) and Peter, her siblings Leila Kelly DeRose (Charlie), Sherman (Judith Abrams), and Hugh (Caroline Thomas), nieces and nephews, and a wide circle of friends in Ithaca and around the world.

Because gatherings in the time of Covid-19 are foolhardy, and Kathy would never stand for the people she cared about doing anything reckless in her name, please raise a glass of wine (or perform some other lovely act) to celebrate a life lived with boundless generosity and singular wit. Donations in Kathy’s name could be made to Golden Opportunity (PO Box 370, Ithaca, NY 14851) and the Family Reading Partnership (54 Gunderman Road, Ithaca, NY 14850).