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Catherine Walsh, writer, realtor, animal lover, dog breeder and beloved mother, passed away peacefully on September 9, 2023, at the age of 87 at her home in Oxford Mississippi. She was surrounded by her health aids, headed up by Bettye Herron, and her minister the Reverend Kenny Koeneman.
She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 22, 1936, to James Aloysius Walsh, President of Armstrong Rubber Company, and his wife, Margaret Catherine Carroll. Catherine graduated from Smith College in 1956 at the age of twenty, with a degree in English. A degree that already boasted her creative writing name “Kathryn Zita”. Marrying WWII pilot Kurt Conley while at Smith, the couple had a son, Sean Conley – who lives in West Tisbury, Massachusetts where he founded Nautilus Realty and opened the Aikido Dojo of Martha’s Vineyard. After Kurt’s death in a fire, Kate met Conrad Thomas while traveling in Spain and after touring together, married in Gibraltar in 1962. Conrad – also a WWII veteran and a lieutenant in the Navy – was an engineer and book author. The couple gave birth to Kate’s second son, James Thomas, who would go on to found MacMillan Films.
Kate will be remembered for her exuberance for life, and her many husbands and lovers. She met and spent time with John Huston during the filming of the Misfits before going around the world. In the 1970s she lived at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City and married the composer George Kleinsinger, who lived in a penthouse with a menagerie of animals. Living there brought her family into contact with Andy Warhol, Arthur C. Clarke, Patti Smith, Janis Joplin and other Bohemian artists, poets and intellectuals. In the 1980 she moved to Europe and lived in Switzerland, London and the South or France – supporting herself with real-estate transactions. She married again – to John Simpson, a WWII ‘Battle of Britain’ fighter pilot, and they moved to live in Cummington, Massachusetts, until narrowly escaping a house fire. Moving to Lyme Rock, Connecticut, she bred Jack Russell terriers and now married again to Rodney Crombie – formerly a Captain in the British SAS. Kate then moved to Miami, Florida, and became a journalist reporting on the night club scene before moving to her final pick for home – Oxford, Mississippi. She felt at home in Mississippi because her father opened the Armstrong Rubber Plant in Natchez and she picked Oxford for its writing and academic tradition. Over her life, Kate wrote many short stories and there is currently a project to decode her diary and publish her writings, adventures and philosophy.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, October 15, 2023, at Kate’s home in Oxford, Mississippi, with The Reverend Kenny Koeneman presiding. All are welcome.
Survivors: sons, Sean Conley and James Thomas; grandchildren: Emma Conley, Max Conley, Christopher Thomas and Matthew Thomas; and great-grandchildren: Luca Conley Lopes.
