Kathleen Willich Murray

The former Kathleen Willich was born in Lake Charles, LA, but spent most of her childhood in Leonia, NJ, where her grandfather and father operated Willich & Co, a rice import and export business based in New Orleans and NYC. Kathleen grew up in Leonia, NJ, and spent all her summers in Beaverkill, NY with her cousins and grandparents. She cherished her special childhood memories on the Beaverkill. 

After High School, in 1951 Kathleen attended Averett College in Danville, VA, and received her associates degree. After college she attended the Katherine Gibbs Business School and worked for ABC until 1956 when she married Bernard Patrick Murray, a graduate of St. Peter’s College, Jersey City. When her children were older Kathy returned to work as the administrative assistant to the President of AmAlloy Industries in Mahwah, NJ, and later in Goshen, NY.

After their wedding Bernard and Kathleen moved to Ft. Knox, KY, for Army officer training. When his Reserve commitment was fulfilled, they moved back to NJ and Bernard started his business career as a sales manager in the brass and copper divisions of Phelps Dodge and later Scoville. 

In 1991 Bernie and Kathy retired to Beaverkill, NY. During her retirement she wrote two books, “Sammy’s Secret” and “The Troll”. As much as she loved The Catskills, the winters were long and hard and soon more than they could manage. They decided to head south and moved to a lovely golfing community in Southport, NC where they spent the next seven years. They still visited Beaverkill every summer and spent time there with their children and their families. 

Bernie died in 2007 and Kathy remained in Southport for an additional two years before making the decision to return north to be closer to her family. With her youngest child, Elizabeth, working at Kirkland Village, Kathy decided to move there. 

Kathy spent her last 16 years at Kirkland Village in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. She still visited the Stone Cottage in the summers and spent time with the family she loved so dearly. She enjoyed the community at Kirkland and having most of her family visiting distance from NY and NJ. She was especially grateful to have her youngest daughter Elizabeth as part of her daily life at Kirkland Village. 

Bernard and Kathleen raised their five children, Patrick, Carolyn, Jacqueline, Albert and Elizabeth in Mahwah, NJ. While living in Mahwah she continued to spend every Summer in Beaverkill with her own children. She loved sharing Beaverkill summer traditions with her children and later her grandchildren. Kathy and Bernie have 12 grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and they all still gather at the Stone Cottage on The Beaverkill each summer.

Kathleen’s ashes will be put to rest with her husband Bernie’s, in the Beaverkill Cemetery. She will be joining her brother George, her parents Helen and Albert, and her grandparents Sylvia and Theodore. Her family is certain she is happy knowing that six generations have been able to enjoy summertime at The Stone Cottage. Her spirit will live on in Beaverkill.