Catherine C. Chalifoux, 89
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. â€' Catherine Clare "Kitty" Chalifoux, 89, of 445 Church St. died Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, peacefully at home attended by her two daughters.
Born in North Adams on May 18, 1920, daughter of Michael J. and Nora Carey Coyne, she graduated from the former St. Joseph's High School and attended Elms College before leaving to care for her family. She obtained her registered nursing degree in 1942 from the former St. Luke's School of Nursing in Pittsfield. She graduated from the former North Adams State College in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in science.
A Navy veteran of World War II, she served as an ensign nurse at Chelsea Naval Hospital, where she was President Kennedy's nurse when he returned home after serving on the PT 109.
Mrs. Chalifoux and her partner Ruth Meaney established the Chalifoux Nursery School in 1961 and operated the business until 1988. She retired as director of health services at NASC, now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, in 1985. She first worked at North Adams Regional Hospital, where she helped train student nurses.
A longtime and active member of the former St. Francis of Assisi Church, she taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and was a member of the Rosary Society. She was a Girl Scout Leader and was active in the Head Start Program in North Adams. She also was a volunteer at the Mary Jeczyk Sunshine Camp. She spent her summers at Lake St. Catherine in Wells, Vt.
Her husband, Jean Chalifoux, whom she married in 1946, died March 3, 1990.
She leaves two sons, Michael Chalifoux of North Adams and Thomas Chalifoux and his wife, Carolyn, of Adams; two daughters, Mary Ann Chalifoux and Cathy Chalifoux, both of North Adams; three grandchildren, Nora Chalifoux, Caitlin Fairneny and her husband, Ty, and Colin Fairneny; nieces and nephews Lois and Carm LaCasse, Michael Furlong, Terry Coyne, Laurie Rondeau and the Denault family; and her beloved friends Jennifer Fitzgerald and Irene Isbell-Ingles.
She was predeceased by two sisters, Mary A. Coyne and Margaret Furlong, and former North Adams Police Chief William F. Coyne, William Buckley, James Coyne and John Coyne.
FUNERAL NOTICE â€' Funeral services will take place Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 8:15 from Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St. North Adams, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 9 at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in North Adams. Burial will follow with military honors in Southview Cemetery.
Calling hours will be Tuesday, Jan. 19 from 4 to 7 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the North Adams Salvation Army.