Katherine Louise Greeley

The beloved daughter of Timothy Joseph Purcell and Catherine Louise Whitty, Kay was born September 10, 1928 in Boston. She was enrolled in the first grade at age 4 by her parents, because she was “asking too many questions” at home. Kay loved her childhood in the Irish neighborhoods of Dorchester and Quincy, especially the early days on Rosaria Street. At age 17, she was already a freshman at Regis College, and that summer she met the love of her life, Marine Corporal Roger Elting Greeley, when they both were clerks at the Boston gourmet food shop, S. S. Pierce.

Rog was waiting for September to start his college education at Boston University, thanks to the GI bill. Their first date was on Kay’s 18th birthday, a Boston Red Sox game. Fenway would also be where she debuted her engagement ring. They married in 1949 and moved to a studio apartment at 320 Beacon Street. Kay’s cute smile got her selected from the New York audience of the live television show, “Break the Bank”, and her great brain earned her $500, correctly answering the questions.

Upon graduation from Regis at 19, Kay began her teaching career at a Miss Vanston’s private girls’ school in Boston, while Rog finished his Masters degree. When he was offered a teaching job in Battle Creek, Michigan, they moved to the Midwest, where their three children were born and raised. Kay never met a person she didn’t consider lovely or a child or dog she didn’t love.

Moving to Kalamazoo in 1957 when Rog was hired as minister at the People’s Church, Kay considered returning to school to begin a career in nursing. She had loved volunteering as a “gray lady” at the local hospital, but when she learned nursing school meant she would not be with her children in the summer, she opted to return to teaching, and never regretted her choice.

In 1968, Kay completed her Masters in Education at Western Michigan University, with a special concentration in the teaching of remedial reading. Thus began her love affair with teaching kindergarteners and fourth graders in the Kalamazoo Public Schools for more than 25 years. Providing an excellent education was not all her students received; their teacher was also known for providing winter coats, boots and other supplies, and for her summer pool parties at the Greeley home on South Westnedge hill.

Kay made time for Democratic candidates and the 1970s peace movement, joining the March on Washington in 1963, as well as anti Vietnam protests in NYC and Washington, D.C. and at her daughter’s University of Michigan graduation where she held a “Jail to the Chief” sign during Vice President Gerald R. Ford’s commencement address.

Kay’s life was also filled with the duties of a minister’s wife, which she embraced with her typical enthusiasm and friendliness, inspiring the church’s family dinners and parody productions of Broadway shows. She will always be remembered for her singing the role of Nathan Detroit’s sweet girlfriend in Guys and Dolls.

World travel with Rog included cruises to Alaska and Scandinavia, touring England and Russia.

Reading, sewing, calligraphy, needlepoint, crossword puzzles, thrift shops, baseball, brisk walking, riding the Atlantic beach waves, water aerobics, camping, sunsets, golf and winters in Florida were among her avid interests. In Marquette, her best day was the weekly trip to the casino with son Tim.

A loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Kay found her greatest joy in family life, and was famous for gifts and handknit sweaters sent to her three children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her husband of 70 years, Roger; children Bethany Knight of Connecticut, Timothy (Janet) Greeley of Marquette and Will (Mary) Greeley of Midland; grandchildren Elliot (Ali) Kaiman of Connecticut, Emily (Brandon) Haugh of Hopkins, Minnesota, Patrick (Amy) Greeley and Theodore (Erika) Greeley of Marquette, Nathan Greeley of Lansing, Michigan and Matthew (Alyssa) Greeley of Madison, Wisconsin; great-grandchildren Malcolm and Otto Kaiman, Lucy Greeley, Virginia Greeley and Addy Greeley. She also leaves her sister Ann (William) Macdonald of Braintree, Massachusetts, 20 nieces and nephews and her dearest friends, BFF Vicki and Clyde Winfield of Kalamazoo and Bradenton. Kay grieved the loss of many good friends, all of whom she outlived. The entire family salutes the loving staff of Millcreek Court Assisted Living in Marquette, for tending to and loving her unconditionally.

The family will celebrate Kay’s life and honor her wishes with a private memorial service next summer in Marquette, when a bench is dedicated overlooking Lake Superior with the inscription, “Contemplate.”

In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to donate to the local Alzheimer’s Association chapter or the noble charity of their choice. Well done, Mom. We loved you living and we love you now.

Fassbender Swanson Hansen Funeral and Cremation Services is serving the family, where condolences may be expressed online at fassbenderswansonhansen.com