Katherine Hale "Casey" Jones

Katherine "Casey" Hale Jones

Temple, NH - We are saddened to share that Casey died suddenly and unexpectedly on Christmas Eve surrounded by her family. Born April 16, 1953 in Greenfield, MA, she spent her childhood in Northfield, MA, with her parents, Martha Faulkner Jones and Douglas Abbey Jones, and her two older brothers, Steve and Tom. Theirs was a welcoming and creative home filled with art, music, and literature, with a potter's wheel in the basement and board game prototypes always in the works.

Childhood summers were spent at Swanzey Lake where her grandparents ran a summer camp, and also traveling the Pioneer Valley with her father as he painted innumerable barns and landscapes.

After graduating from The Northfield School for Girls, she studied at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Peters Valley School of Craft in New Jersey. Her talent was broad and evident in the many disciplines she enjoyed: quilting, paper quilling, sewing, calligraphy, print making, leather work, weaving, and ceramics.

In 1977 Casey traveled to Eugene, Oregon to visit her best friend, Susan, for a short visit. Finding the environs acceptable by her standards, she stayed for three years, working in hospitals and becoming a licensed massage therapist. Returning to New Hampshire to be nearer to family, she met her soulmate, Bill Faller, at the bar of The Fitzwilliam Inn and after a whirlwind courtship, married him six months later. Together they raised their two children, Sam and Tess, in a home they built in Temple. Casey had an innate gift for parenting, and the bond she shared with her children was both constant and all-encompassing.

Her forty-five years with Bill were characterized by unconditional love, humor, quirky shared interests, and gratitude for their lives together. They enjoyed a shared love of wide-ranging music, film, BBC mysteries, and a long tradition of nightly reading aloud in bed. They maintained a bitter Yahtzee rivalry and completed numerous jigsaw puzzles (even that really hard one). Each summer, they treasured time gathered with friends and relatives at Bill's inherited Adirondack summer home. In recent years, their great pleasure was time spent with their two grandchildren, the first of whom dubbed them Gupps and Gapps. Cookie making adventures with Gupps will be greatly missed.

Casey enjoyed living in Temple, and she gave back to the community by organizing the Harvest Festival in its early years and joining the board of trustees for the Mansfield Library, eventually serving as its Chair. Casey loved cooking and delighted in creating adventurous and inspired meals, which were legendary with family and friends. A voracious reader, she was rarely seen without a book. She enjoyed non-fiction and fiction alike, with a special proclivity for mysteries and anything with a dragon on the cover. Like her mother, she was a crossword puzzle expert, accomplishing multiple year-long streaks on the NYT puzzles app. Casey was a life-long supporter of social justice and women's rights, as well as a fierce advocate for grammar (so let's hope we didn't screw this up!). She had a fondness for miniature objects, good chocolate, the perfect cup of PG Tips, and her succession of cats and one amazing dog.

Casey spent nearly forty years at Mountain Shadows School in various capacities. She taught grammar, language, music, anatomy, and geography classes that imparted her love of learning to generations of students. As an integral part of the group of founding teachers, Casey shaped and supported unique traditions as the school evolved. Her fellow teachers became beloved life-long friends. As Casey's duties evolved over the years, she was sometimes asked her official title and was known to reply, "glue."

With extraordinary grace and humor, Casey faced myriad long standing health issues, refusing to let them define her. She became a compass for a vast array of family and friends who were drawn to her honesty, playfulness, and ability to truly listen. She was the keeper of family traditions, both inherited and of her own creation. The profound impact she had on so many will long endure.

Casey is survived by her husband, Bill Faller; brother, Tom Jones; son Sam and his partner Kerri Cordeiro; daughter Tess and her partner Dave Durant; nephew John Jones; niece Gwen Jones; grandchildren Evelyn Faller and River Durant, and a granddaughter due in March. She was predeceased by her parents, Martha and Douglas Jones, and her brother Steve Jones.

Casey's family would like to extend their gratitude to the responders who acted swiftly and with great compassion.

A celebration of life is in the planning for late spring or early summer.

Donations in Casey's name may be made to The Mansfield Library in Temple or to local food banks.