Emilie H Kimball

Lee was born April 2, 1926, in Pasadena, CA, to Miles W. and Helen Doane Hubbard. She attended the Westridge School in Pasadena where as a teen she met her future husband, Lewis “Lew” E. Kimball, Jr. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1947, she and Lew (also Berkeley ’47) were married in June 1950. Lee was a dedicated partner in Lew’s long career in independent schools, but she forged her own identity through many other activities and leadership roles.

Lee and Lew bought an 1830’s farmhouse and barn in Chatham in the fall of 1965. They and their three boys quickly immersed themselves in the sailing program at nearby Stage Harbor Yacht Club. The house became the family’s summertime center for countless happy memories. In 1997, Lee and Lew subdivided the property and built a second house to which they later retired.

In Chatham, Lee and Lew were active at St. Christopher’s Church, where they headed the Aid to Africa program, and a winter supper and film discussion series. Lee also was active in the church’s Uncommon Thrift shop and buildings & grounds committee with a special interest in landscaping.

Lee served on Chatham’s Conservation Commission and was a member of the Comprehensive Long Range Planning Committee. She was active with Lew in the early years of the Friends of Chatham Waterways, Friends of Trees, and the Friends of Monomoy Theater where they were season ticket holders for many years. She and Lew traveled extensively, including to London on theater trips with Friends of Monomoy Theater, to Italy with the Harvard Alumni Association, and to Europe, Russia, Japan and China with family.

She was passionate about plants and flowers and was an active member of several garden clubs wherever they lived, including those in Newport, RI, Carpinteria and Montecito, CA, McLean, VA, and most especially the Fox Hill Garden Club in Wellesley, MA. She was a member of Stage Harbor Yacht Club, the Chatham Beach and Tennis Club, the Women’s Club of Chatham, the League Club of Cape Cod, and several book clubs. For decades, she and Lew enjoyed Saturday night season tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Lee will be remembered for her devotion to her family, her wide circle of friends, her strong intellect, sensitivity to others, practical optimism, and determination to see and hear only the best in people. Her close friends and family, who knew her as “Weefie,” also will remember her for the depth of her kindness, colorful quilts, needlepoint, knitted sweaters, skills in the kitchen and effortlessness as a host. She had beautiful handwriting, and told stories of marathon card games with her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters at Berkeley.

Lee and Lew joined friends to watch workman series races from the old Stage Harbor cranberry freezer dock at happy hour known as the “Harper Valley PTA.” Lee raced the family Day Sailer “Gimlet” while confidently proclaiming her intent to “tacky-wacky” or “jibey-wiby.”

Lee was predeceased by her husband Lew. She is survived by their three sons and their families: Philip and his wife Kathleen Sheehan, and their daughter Emilie A. Kimball and her husband Ryan Altorfer; Peter and his wife Miriam, and their two daughters Louisa K. Baker and her husband Michael and their two children Liam and Emma, and Alexandra S. Kimball; and Matthew and his wife Lydia and their three children, Everett S. Kimball and his wife, Elizabeth and their children Edward and Alina, Margaret K. Santullo and her husband CJ, and William B. Kimball and his wife Taylor.

Lee was predeceased by her brother, Pieter S. Hubbard of South Pasadena, CA, and his wife, Marlene G. Hubbard. She is survived by their children, Pieter S. Hubbard, Jr., and Jeffrey Hubbard and their families.

A memorial service at St. Christopher’s Church is planned for Saturday, November 16, at 10:30 am. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the music program at St. Christopher’s Church, 625 Main Street, Chatham, MA 02633, or to the Lewis. E. Kimball, Jr. Scholarship Fund at the Friends of Chatham Waterways, P.O. Box 472, Chatham, MA 02633.