Kathryn S. (Neary) LaMontagne, 89, of Mattapoisett, MA and Marco Island, FL, formerly of Wellesley and Natick, MA died Sunday, May 23, 2021 at Sacred Heart Home surrounded by her family. She was the beloved wife of Leo J. LaMontagne to whom Kate was married for 65 years.
Kate leaves son Gavin LaMontagne of Onset, MA and Marco Island, daughter Eve and husband Jay Stoebel of Mattapoisett and Marco Island, two very cherished granddaughters Elizabeth and husband Bernard D’Amours of Manchester, NH and Anna Stoebel of Carlisle, MA. She was predeceased by her daughter, Elizabeth LaMontagne, her sisters Mary-Jane Stanton and Margaret Rodman, and her brother Thomas Neary. She was the daughter of the late George and Josephine Neary of Natick and the niece of many aunts and uncles.
Kate was a graduate of Natick High School class of 1949 and Westfield State University. She had been employed as a teacher in Connecticut, California and Newton, and she had also tutored princes and princesses in Bahrain. She was a CCD teacher at St. James the Great Church in Wellesley.
Kate was noted for her work helping children with difficulties by using persistent positive feedback to help overcome their special needs. Kate was selected to work with young learners in classrooms both here and abroad, those learners benefitted from her kind approach. She befriended people with physical and mental difficulties and was given recognition for this. Kate was a former Chairperson of the Medway Democratic Town Committee, the Medway Heart Fund, Co-president of Nanumett Heights Beach Club, Chairperson of the Ways and Means Committee American Women’s Club, of Beirut, Lebanon and a member of the American Women’s Club in Bahrain. Kate was a past manager of the Filene’s Men’s Store in Wellesley. Kate was an enthusiastic bridge player, winning tournaments in Lebanon and Bahrain. One of her joys was doubling and setting noted bridge player Omar Sharif in Beirut. Kate traveled to thirty-nine countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle and Far East and the Western Hemisphere. A gracious hostess, she painted and stenciled furniture, collected carpets, glass violins and art work. Kate was an avid reader and an accomplished sailor in Buzzards Bay. Kate is remembered as a kind and considerate friend to all whom she met. Kate used her knowledge of political history to support people with needs in underdeveloped counties.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, June 5, 2021 at 10 am at St. Anthony’s Church, Mattapoisett. Visiting hours will be Friday, June 4, 2021 from 4-7 pm in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in Kate’s memory to Bethany Health Care Center, 97 Bethany Road, Framingham, MA 01702 or to Boston Children’s Hospital, 401 Park Dr., Ste. 602, Boston, MA 02215, notating Kathryn LaMontagne and the Brain Tumor Center in the memo line. For directions and guestbook, visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
