Edna-Kate Stakes

She was born October 28, 1941 in Patchogue, Long Island, NY to Wilbur Sylvester Stakes and Sue Kathleen Greenamyre. Her father was a Medical Doctor in Patchogue, NY. Her mother was from Kansas and a Registered Nurse.

Kate grew up in Patchogue and Bellport, Long Island, NY and graduated in 1959 from Seton Hall High School, Patchogue, NY. She was a Registered Nurse with a graduate Degree from Flower Fifth Avenue Nursing College in New York City. She worked as a nurse at Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital Cancer Center, all of New York City. After her nursing career she worked as a medical specialist for various law firms. She was a long time residence of Manhattan, NYC and relocated to Cary, NC in 1994.

She was a member of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Cary, NC where she was a Eucharistic Minister and an active member of The Social Action Committee of St. Michael the Archangel Church and other ministries. She was a past Member of the Board of COPE Eldercare and worked as a volunteer at the Open Door Clinic in Raleigh.

Kate was a skilled pianist being taught by Frederick Marshak, a professor at the NYC College of Music. Her favorite composers were Chopin and Mozart whose pieces she played with commitment and vigor. She also was a lover of the arts and a frequent visitor to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney as well as galleries and museums in Bologna and Florence when she lived in Italy in the 1960s.

She is survived by her brother, Wilbur Sylvester Stakes II; her niece, Sarah Kathleen Stakes; and nephew, Timothy James Stakes.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Wilbur S. Stakes, MD (1957) and Mrs. Sue K. Stakes Scala (1994), and her brother, Joseph Harlan Stakes (1982).

Her funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 am Friday, January 21 at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Cary, NC. There will be a wake Thursday, January 20, 2011 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Apex Funeral Home in Apex, NC to include a rosary service at 7:30 pm. Inurnment will be at 11:00 am Monday, January 24 in the St. Michael the Archangel Columbarium. Details regarding these arrangements can be found from http://www.apexfuneral.net/ and Apex Funeral Home, 550 West Williams Street, Apex, NC 27502-1846, (919) 362-8233.

Donations can be made in her memory to:

St. Francis Friends of the Poor, Inc., (Tax Identification Number: 13-3039564), in care of Fr. John Felice, OFM, 155 West 22nd Street, New York, New York 10011; and

The Social Action Committee of St. Michael the Archangel Church, High House Road, Cary, North Carolina 27513.

She will be dearly missed by her very best friend and Partner in Faith, Charles P. (Chuck) Elms.