Mary Elizabeth Kass

Mary Elizabeth “Mary Beth” Kass passed away on Sunday, March 24, 2024. She was born on December 12, 1963 in New Brunswick, NJ to Ronald and Judith Salmini Falk. She spent her childhood in Tewksbury Township, NJ attending local schools and Voorhees High School. Mary Beth graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1985, moved to New York for work and married Evan Kass in 1989. They raised their daughter, Alexandra, and son, Brian, in the hamlet of Katonah, NY.

Mary Beth was kind, caring, and had a lifelong passion for serving others. Mary Beth was Co-Chair of the Katonah Village Improvement Society for six years and served as the Secretary of the Katonah Chamber of Commerce. She was appointed Chair of the Bedford Energy Advisory Panel (BEAP) in 2007 and led the committee’s efforts to create the Bedford Climate Action Plan. Mary Beth co-chaired two highly successful Bedford Environmental summits in 2009 and 2011 and for her climate-action work, she was nominated by the Town Board as Bedford’s “Woman of Distinction” in 2012. She was the Co-President and Co-Founder of the Bedford 2020 Coalition (now Bedford 2030) from 2010 to 2019. Mary Beth was elected to the Bedford Town Board in 2013 where she served as a member for three years.

Mary Beth had a radiant and magnetic personality made evident by the long-lasting relationships she forged with both friends and family. She lived her life with patience, curiosity, and a desire to make people feel special. She loved to read and learn about things old and new. She loved the beach and her home in Old Saybrook, CT. Above all else, she loved her husband, her children, and her three grandboys, Luke, Owen and Jake, who affectionately referred to her as “Nini.”

Mary Beth will be sadly missed by her husband, her children and their spouses, her parents, her brothers, Jay and Scott Falk, her grandchildren, her in-laws, Carolyn and Steve Kass, and a large extended family. Her legacy in Bedford continues with Bedford 2030’s annual award for exceptional volunteerism – the Mary Beth Kass Climate Leader Award.

Friends will be received at Clark Associates Funeral Home, 4 Woods Bridge Rd, Katonah, NY on Friday, April 12th from 3-7pm. A private interment for family will be held at Kensico Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bedford 2030 Initiative or any charity of your choice.