October 22, 1934 ~ October 17, 2020
Kitty was born in Boston and attended North Quincy schools and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating in 1956 as a member of Chi Omega and Head Drum Majorette. In the 60’s, she studied the organ at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and started playing at various churches there.
In the early 70’s, she and her six children moved to Marshfield, MA where she became a music teacher, church organist, and choir director. After several years, she took a job at Blue Cross as a Cobol programmer while continuing her work as an organist and choir director.
In the late 70’s, Kitty was accepted as a singer with the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus and sang with them for over 10 years. Her tenure included multiple performances at Carnegie Hall and two trips to London to sing with the BBC Chorus.
Kitty sang with some of her dearest friends in a Russian choral group in Boston and they traveled to Moscow to perform in 1992. Directly following their performance in Moscow, Kitty peeled off from the group, and with only a backpack, trekked alone through Europe for six months, visiting 18 countries.
Upon her return, Kitty sold her house in Massachusetts and drove to California, where she took a job in Pacific Grove at St. Mary’s by the Sea as their Organist and Choir Director. During her tenure, the choir developed nicely and a pipe organ was installed in the church.
While living on the Monterey Peninsula, Kitty was able to sing with the Camerata Singers of Monterey. She was a volunteer guide at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for over 20 years. Kitty also loved to paint with oils and watercolors.
Kitty retired from St. Mary’s and spent summers in Lake Tahoe with her former partner. While wintering in Monterey she would fill in as Organist at First Presbyterian Church and St. John’s Chapel. While summering in Lake Tahoe, she sang with Toccata Tahoe Chorus and Orchestra. In 2017, the Toccata Chorus and Orchestra traveled to Europe and performed in Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. During this tour, Kitty was the featured organist at one church’s daily offering in Vienna, and was able to play the oldest pipe organ in Europe.
In 2018, Kitty was diagnosed with cancer, though she was still able to perform until recently. She died peacefully at home.
Kitty is survived by her brother Greg Dunham, her six children, Robert and his wife, Cecily; Jeffrey and his wife, Claudia; Carol and her husband, Stephen; Susan Meise; Stephen and Christopher. She is also survived by ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Kitty leaves behind her dearest friends, Alice and Pieter Honner-White and Jan Veneto, and many other good friends here and around the country.
Kitty has requested that there be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a favorite choral group or to Habitat for Humanity. Please visit www.thepaulmortuary.com to sign Kitty’s guest book and leave messages for her family.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18