Kathleen Harrington

Kathleen Harrington

1967 – 2019

West Springfield – Kathleen (Marshall) Stone Harrington, 51, died peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family and friends.   Kate was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, the daughter of John Marshall and the late Elizabeth (Donaher) Stone.  She grew up in New Boston, N.H. and has lived in West Springfield for the past 20 years.  Kate graduated from Goffstown High School in Goffstown, NH, received her Bachelor’s Degree from the College of the Holy Cross and earned her law degree from Western New England College.  While in law school she went to work for Massachusetts’ Department of Children and Families and became a counsel II working mostly in the Springfield and Holyoke Juvenile Courts.  She became a tireless advocate for the rights of children and a self taught expert on learning disabilities, how differing states laws impacted child abuse cases and the effects of primary and secondary trauma on children and adults. She used that knowledge to help countless people in West Springfield and beyond.   She was a devoted mother to her three sons demonstrating by sheer force of will that their (and her) only limit is the sky and sharing their love for pets and animals.  Active in the community, Kate was the chair of the West Springfield Public Library Capital Campaign which raised 2 million dollars to renovate and expand the West Springfield Library; a member of the Republican State Committee and chair of the West Springfield Republican Town Committee before leaving both posts due to the party’s embrace of radical positions and persons.  She served on the West Springfield Planning Board for fifteen years, becoming Vice-Chair and liaison to the Conservation Commission and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. Katie also was part of the committee who rewrote the Bullying Policy for the West Springfield Public Schools and the committee that selected the current Superintendent of Schools.  She leaves her husband Brian K. Harrington; three sons William J. Harrington III, James E. Harrington and Colby W. Harrington, her biological father John Marshall of Phoenix, AZ, her father Robert Stone of New Boston, NH, her aunts and uncles James and Susan Donaher, Susan Jones, Michael and Leslie Donaher and Kathleen and Kevin Keogh and her cousins Lauryn Field, Megan Ucich, and Edward and Abby Donaher.  The funeral will be held at the West Springfield Curran-Jones Funeral Home Wednesday at 11:00am.  Visiting hours will be Tuesday from 4:00 – 7:00pm.  For more details please visit curranjones.com.  Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.