Catherine (DeCesare) Harry

Catherine “Kay” Harry, 100, passed away peacefully on August 18, 2022 with her loving family by her side. Kay was born in Brooklyn, NY to Giuseppe and Giacomina De Cesare, who had emigrated to the US when they were teenagers from Molfetta, Italy. Kay was the fifth eldest of their ten children and the first of her family to graduate from high school. At PS100, the fashion design school, she learned how to sew and design clothes. Kay was particularly proud of her career as a supervisor of the elevator girl crew at 70 Pine in the Wall St area of Manhattan. She led the team and even designed their uniforms.

She married Arthur “Art” Harry in 1951 and spent 27 years traveling and relocating with Art’s military career as an engineer and pilot with the USAF. Along with their growing family they first moved to upstate NY, then CO, OK, LA, and finally MA. Kay came to really enjoy life on base as an officer’s wife. She learned to play bridge which became an abiding passion. She was still playing a good hand till 2017.

Kay and Art retired to Cape Cod after 30 years with the USAF. There they had a busy life playing golf, bridge games, boating, fishing, and in later years, curling. Kay particularly loved golf – and finding lost golf balls! She bequeathed a considerable quantity of them to her offspring.

In 2001 she and Art moved to a retirement community they loved in Scarborough, close to their daughter Wendy in Portland. Kay was thrilled when a few years later her son-in-law Craig retired from USAF and he and Alison bought a house nearby in Cape Elizabeth. If asked about how she lived to be 100, (and even if you didn’t ask) she would attribute her longevity to the Mediterranean Diet and not drinking or smoking.

In 2017 Kay moved to The Landing, an assisted living facility in Cape Elizabeth where she was very happy. Kay was predeceased by her husband, Lt. Col. Art Harry, USAF, in 2012, and her son Dennis in 1992. She is survived by her daughters Wendy Graham and Alison Smith and their spouses, Sive Neilan and Craig Smith, her grandsons David and Isaac Graham, Ian and Colin Smith, three great-grandchildren, Jonah and Eleanor Smith, and Caroline Smith.

The family is enormously grateful to the staff of The Landing for the excellent care and many kindnesses they showed Kay over the years. The family is also grateful to Beacon Hospice who greatly eased Kay’s last days.

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