Obituary: Katherine A. Wilkinson, 68, Loving Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and long-time East Greenwich resident

Katherine Anne Wilkinson, 68, of East Greenwich, passed away on Sunday, January, 8. Kathy was a mother, spouse, grandmother, and a very best friend to many. Each role she treated as if it was the most important in the world. She was widely revered for her boundless love and determination.

She was born on July 15, 1948 to Leonard Smith and Sally (Wille) Kessler and was raised in Haskell, New Jersey.

Kathy had three children and in 1980 moved to Rhode Island. She made incredible sacrifices for her kids, raising them as a single parent while working full-time. They became the first in her family to attend and graduate college. Kathy worked for the East Greenwich School Department, then at Stanley Bostitch, and ended her career at Wilkinson Associates, an engineering firm, where she worked until a month before she died.

In 1997, she married Donald P. Wilkinson, the love of her life. They blended two families and she loved the Wilkinson children as her own. Nothing brought her more joy than their family, and she delighted in her grandchildren being in her home. This large and loving family was her crowning achievement.

She hosted legendary holidays and celebrations. Thanksgivings saw more than 30 people. Christmas, her favorite time of year, lasted from Thanksgiving well into the New Year. Year-round, her home was a modern day manger, open and available to all.

She was a congregant at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in East Greenwich, and a volunteer at its weekly thrift shop, where she made quick friends with the customers, and often served as an unofficial social worker to some.

In 1998 she was first diagnosed with cancer and fought the disease for the remaining 19 years of her life until finally succumbing shortly after spending one last Christmas with her family and friends.

She leaves her husband, Donald P. Wilkinson, three children, Christine King, Bob Plain and Matthew Plain, two Wilkinson children, Cristina Trainer and James Wilkinson, 10 grandchildren and an older sister, Linda Nieswand, of Pine Brook, NJ.

Calling hours will be held on Friday, from 4 to 8pm at the Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home, 659 East Greenwich Avenue, West Warwick. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, 10 am at the the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 118 Division St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, or drop off some clothing at the First Evangelical Lutheran thrift shop on Saturday mornings.