Katharine Louise Case Fournier

Katharine Louise Case "Kit" Fournier, who died on Sunday, March 20, 2016, at her home in Williamsburg, Virginia, was born on May 15, 1926, in Syracuse, New York. Her Family moved to Staten Island and then into New York City as she grew up. She was a tour guide for NBC at Rockefeller Center in New York City in the early 40's. She attended Cornell University and then Antioch College (Yellow Springs, OH), where she met her future husband Arthur. She married him on December 16, 1944, at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City and raised two daughters as her family moved from Michigan to Chicago, Park Forest (IL), and Glenview (IL). After a brief time in Houston, she and Art moved back to the Chicago area (Deerfield and Wilmette), where she returned to school and earned her degree at the National College of Education. She spent many years before and after graduation as a systems analyst at Washington National Insurance Company. In fact, when she and Art moved to Baltimore, the company sought her out and enticed her to return to work in their New York office. She was an early teleworker, working from home in Baltimore.

An avid sailor for most of her life, she introduced sailing to her late husband, Arthur, in the 60s. Their sailing together began with a 19-foot Mouette and ended with a 42-foot Hunter. They sailed extensively in the Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico. When they moved to Maryland and Virginia, they discovered the Chesapeake Bay and the Inland Waterway. They also traveled extensively around the world.

Kit volunteered in her many communities. She was a founding member of two Unitarian Universalist churches (Park Forest, IL & Williamsburg, VA), serving in Park Forest as Charter President and in many other leadership capacities at Unitarian Church of Evanston (IL), Emerson UU (Houston), North Shore Unitarian (Deerfield, IL), Towson UU (MD), and Williamsburg UU. She was a Girl Scout leader, activist, and election official. She gave many hours to the Library of Congress as a reader (where she was known as "leather lungs" for her ability to read for long periods) and to Faith in Action as a driver and phone companion. She was a charter member of the Christopher Wren Association and a fifty-year member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.

Kit also found time to pursue her passions. She was an avid seamstress, making clothes for her daughters and designing identical clothes for their dolls from scraps. Her daughters never had to worry about a duplicate prom dress showing up. Her specialty was finish work. She designed and made wedding dresses for both daughters. She was known for looking into her closet, deciding that she had nothing to wear, and making it that day. Kit also learned to knit and designed baby things and outfits for herself. She worked out complex designs in sweaters, especially when traveling to New York on Amtrak during her time with Washington National.

In later years, Kit took up genealogy and developed a comprehensive family tree for both the Case and Fournier lines. She enjoyed research travel to discover details of these lineages back to 1604. Kit also took up writing and editing, publishing several books, including fiction and a memoir of her life, from the post-war 1940's upon meeting her husband, through his death in 2001. She was an active member of Williamsburg Writers and Wren Writers, where she offered her editing skills and shared her writings.

Kit’s father, Percival Homer Case, mother, Charlotte Smith Case, brother, David Adams Case, and her husband of 57 years, S. Arthur Fournier, predeceased her. She leaves daughters Susan Elizabeth Campbell Fournier (David Allen Cunningham) of Williamsburg, Virginia, Annie Carolyn Fournier Tiberio Cameron (Paul Francis Cameron) of Montpelier, Vermont, and four grandchildren: Douglas Arthur Hass (Patricia Roman Hass) of Munster, Indiana, Michael Adams Hass (Jennifer Faye Dehart Hass) of Washington DC, Adam Arthur Tiberio of New York City, and Jenny Katharine Tiberio (Kenneth Jonathon Kabiru), of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Five great grandchildren also will remember her with love: Charlotte Augusta Dehart Hass, Noah Michael Dehart Hass, Eleanor Wren Dehart Hass, Emma Maria Roman Hass, and Gabriel Francis Roman Hass.

A memorial service will be held at the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, 3051 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, VA, on Saturday, June 11, 2016, at 10:00 AM officiated by Reverend Dave Johnson. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to: Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists Endowment Fund, 3051 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185.