Kathryn Alice Park

She is survived by her children John (Donna), Mike Jr. (Carol), Carol, and Bob (Janet), her grand-children Nicolas, Christopher and Jason, her sister Julia Connor, and her beloved dog Nico. Born on April 10, 1932, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, she grew up in Queens and Long Island. She graduated from Bayside High School and the Lennox Hill School of Nursing where she worked in the emergency room. In 1956 she married Michael A. Park. They lived in Boston, Germantown, Kansas and Easton (PA) before they moved into their current home in Berwyn, PA in 1966.

While raising her children into adolescence, Kay began the second half of her career. Her first adventure was as a school bus driver for Tredyffrin-Eastown township for a few years, where the children would frequently be surprised to see the diminutive Kay behind the wheel of the large bus. She then learned yoga in 1970 from Indian-born Amrit Desai and became a member of the 1971 Yoga Society of Pennsylvania. Kay taught yoga for 45 years at a variety of schools and institutions, including many classes for people with Multiple Sclerosis in the greater Philadelphia area. Kay also worked off-and-on as a registered nurse at a variety of places including Lennox Hill, Boston, Devon Manor and as a personal nurse for Mrs. Lois Cassatt Thayer of Rosemont. She also raised, trained and showed Champion Giant Schnauzer dogs.

Besides family, yoga and her dogs, Kay’s passions were golf, travel and gardening. She and Mike belonged to Waynesborough Country Club for over 50 years, and Saucon Valley Country Club for over 20 years. Kay was very active and a strong supporter of the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Fund and integral in the development of junior golf at Waynesborough, where she helped start a life-long love of golf for dozens of young people. Kay and Mike travelled all over Europe and the United States for over 30 years enjoying some of the finest food in the world. Kay was a member and supporter of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Longwood Gardens and had an extensive garden at home.

Along with husband Michael, Kay was a long-time supporter of the arts and humanities, and a major patron and supporter of the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In May 2016, Mike and Kay established the Michael and Kathryn Park Endowed Chair in Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, supporting the research of their friend and cardiologist Dr. IK Jang. She also actively gave food and other donations to the Catholic church for those in need.

Kay was a loving and devoted wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, sibling and friend. Through her many years of teaching, nursing, volunteer work and philanthropy, she made many friends, and touched and enriched many lives. She will be greatly missed by all.

The family will be holding a memorial at a later date. In Lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her memory to Longwood Gardens, the Barnes Foundation or the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.