Katharine Skowron Chase

1936 - 2026

Katharine Skowron Chase (Kay), 89, passed away peacefully on February 11th, surrounded by her family.

Kay was born on August 10th, 1936, in Adams, MA, to Elizabeth (Coussoule) and Theodore Skowron. She had a robust, loving, and patriotic family of Polish, Italian, and Greek immigrants. She often regaled younger generations with stories about her childhood in Cheshire and Adams, playing in her grandfather's pear and plum orchards and helping her mother and grandmother in the kitchen. She was a most adored classmate, voted "Cutest Smile," and graduating in the inaugural class of the new Adams Memorial High School.

Kay earned an associate's degree from Mount Ida College in 1956, and relished her time in Boston. She lived on Commonwealth Avenue with a rotating cast of roommates, hauling their belongings in taxi cabs from one apartment to another in the spirit of adventure and young womanhood. She worked in Boston University's development department as an executive assistant and loved to tell stories of her fun, independent life in the city. A chance meeting there of JFK solidified her as a lifelong Kennedy watcher.

In 1958, Kay married her lifelong love and "rock," Wilbur Chase. Together they would return to the Berkshires and grow roots in Cheshire. They had three children. Kay was always finding unique ways to honor her special relationship with each of them. She treasured her home, and throughout her life would make it the most comfortable, peaceful place for her family to return.

Kay created strong connections in Cheshire that would last a lifetime. As a founding member of the Cheshire Garden Club, her home gardens were some of her greatest joys. She grew vegetables, pumpkins, lilacs and lily-of-the-valley and later, wildflowers of all kinds, bouquets of which she sold at the local farmers' market and gave away to friends. She was studied in the art of pressing various species flowers and ferns, many of which hang framed on her family's walls today. She was very grounded in her spiritual life and served as a trustee and deaconess at the First Baptist Church in Cheshire. Forever a passionate booster of her beloved Berkshires, Kay never missed an opportunity to share in and attend all that she could.

When her children left home, Kay returned to the workplace as a "Kelly Girl" and worked in the trust department of Berkshire Bank. She would go on to be Executive Secretary to a group of young engineers at Intersil, a start-up associated with General Electric, enjoying life as a working woman before retiring with Wilbur to North Fort Myers, FL. Kay and Wilbur would make Florida their home for more than twenty years, spending most summers on Lake Ashmere in Hinsdale, MA, with family. In Florida, Kay continued the things she loved in the warmth of new friends, hosting many of her favorite people throughout her time there. She immediately immersed herself in the local scene, always planning outings and adventures for curious visitors. She learned new gardening techniques necessary for the Florida climate and cared especially well for her thriving collection of orchids. She returned to Massachusetts in 2023 to be close to family and reside with Wilbur at the All American Assisted Living community in Wrentham MA.

Travel to see friends and family was a constant thread throughout Kay and Wilbur's life together. They saw their children living across the country as an opportunity to embrace adventure, and enjoyed many trips to California, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Boston area, as well as to Arizona where her brother and sister-in-law lived. Kay and Wilbur celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Italy, where they delighted in the delicious beauty of the old world, their sole trip abroad.

She is survived by her husband of sixty-eight years Wilbur A Chase of Wrentham, MA; her daughter Leslie C Soha of Brooklyn, NY; her grandson Chase A Soha, and his wife Kristen M Lohwasser, and her great-grandchildren Finn M and Sunny H Soha of Montclair, NJ; her son Edward S Chase and daughter-in-law Marianne K Chase of Mansfield, MA; her granddaughter Alexandria K Chase of Somerville, MA; her son-in-law Ray Bair of San Francisco, CA. She also leaves behind her brother Edward R Skowron of Tucson, AZ, her sister Virginia Thompson and brother-in-law Roy Thompson of Dalton, MA, and a half-sister, Starlene Lang of Pittsfield, MA and many nieces and nephews. Kay was predeceased by her daughter Katharine Chase (Kate) of San Francisco, CA and her son-in-law Michael H Soha, of Brooklyn, NY and sisters-in-law Lois C Milman of Orleans MA and Marjory C Skowron of Tucson, AZ.

Kay will be remembered for her ceaseless interest in the people around her; even during the week of her passing, she was recounting the names, family members, and hometowns of the nurses who cared for her. As she got older her love of dancing and music sharpened. She could pick out any big band tune from just a few notes. Kay believed that it was a sin to cut down a tree, and that you could only love people, never things. And no-one we know loved people as deeply as she did.

A private burial will be held later this summer, at Cheshire Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to organizations supporting causes Kay cared deeply about: Sierra Club or United Spinal Association.