Schaghticoke, NY

It is with profound sadness that the family of Catharine Jennings Kilby, 70, announces her passing on February 28, 2025.

Cathy was born and raised in Cambridge, NY to her parents Rupert and Patricia Jennings, where she attended Cambridge Central School and learned to love life in the country surrounded by family, friends, horses, dogs, and cats. Cathy was an avid horsewoman from a young age, competing at the Cambridge Saddle Club with her first horse, Chipper. That early love of horses led her to become active and a key volunteer in the Rensselaer County 4-H and the Schaghticoke Fair.

Cathy’s career was focused on teaching Math, first at Hudson Valley Community College where she met her husband Jim, and then later at several regional central schools, including Hoosick Falls, Cambridge, and Granville. At those schools she was not only an accomplished and beloved teacher but also an inspiring and motivating coach of field hockey, softball, and bowling teams. Known affectionately as “CJ” and “Kilby,” she loved the kids and teachers she worked with, and the feeling was mutual. It was impossible to go anywhere with her without meeting someone she had befriended at some point in her life.

Cathy always wanted to be in the middle of whatever was going on, and throughout her life she appreciated a party, gathering, or adventure of any kind. Her adventurous spirit led her to engage in many different sports in school, plus hang-gliding, backpacking, camping, motorcycle riding, scuba diving, riding around in her beloved Jeeps, and so much more. Cathy’s aptitude for teaching coincided with her love of skiing, and as a ski instructor at Willard Mountain, she was delighted to help hundreds of people young and old experience the fun and freedom of downhill skiing.

Cathy’s love of the outdoors extended to enjoying many family vacations at beaches on the Maine coast, at Alexandria Bay, and in South Carolina. Family life also included horse shows, cookouts, skiing, card games, and lots of extended family time with beloved grandparents.

Cathy especially filled her life with activities that brought her closer to other people and that supported those in need. She always found a way to help others by organizing fundraisers, including making, selling, and donating proceeds from the gorgeous quilts she loved to sew. Cathy and her quilting friends even went on quilt shop tours throughout New England.

Cathy loved being with family and friends, and her last peaceful moments in this life were the same: surrounded by family and close friends.

Cathy is survived by her husband James Kilby of Schaghticoke, her sons Tyler Kilby (Jaclyn) of Schaghticoke and Andrew Kilby (Stephanie) of Valley Falls, her father Rupert Jennings Jr. of Cambridge, her brother Rupert Jennings III (Carol) of Arlington, VA, her sisters Lynn Meyer (Jeffrey) of Granville and Lisa Jennings (Anthony) of Placitas, NM, sisters-in-law Cynthia Van Houte of Pittsford and Betsy Lane (Michael) of Mooresville, NC, as well as many cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and her best friend Barb Banta of Granville.

Donations in Cathy’s memory can be made to the Rensselaer County 4-H Horse Leaders Assn. (https://rensselaer.cce.cornell.edu/donate), or the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society (mohawkhumane.org).

A celebration of life is being planned for May.

Online remembrances may be made at www.chasesmithfamily.com.