Kathlyn Kerley

Kathlyn Singer Kerley of Southbury, CT died May 20, 2025, after a short illness at Danbury Hospital related to a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. The family wishes to thank the staff of the ICU at Danbury Hospital for their steadfast, round-the-clock care and concern for Kathy.

Kathy was born in Topeka, Kansas on February 13, 1947 to Roy and Harriet (Higby) Singer. She is survived by her loving husband, Art, daughters Susan Kerley Fernand, Sarah Kerley Amaral, sons-in-law Michael Fernand, Claudio Amaral and grandsons Gavin, Tyler and Jason Fernand and Lucas and Owen Amaral, her brother Roy Singer of West Palm Beach, FL and her twin sister, Karen Macklin of Surprise, AZ.

Kathy grew up in several towns in Kansas, including Hoyt and Prairie Village (Kansas City), before the family settled in Iola, where her father owned and operated a large supermarket, Singer IGA, which served a significant swath of southeastern Kansas. Kathy was active in Girl Scouts, 4H, and played several musical instruments including piano, flute and cello. She was in the marching band at Iola High School from which she graduated in 1965.

She enrolled in the Fairmont College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University (WSU) where she majored in music and played the cello in the university orchestra. In her junior year, she met Art Kerley who was in graduate school and a teaching assistant in the Psychology Department. From the moment they met, Kathy and Art formed a deep and loving relationship. They were married in January 1970 at the Harvey Grace Memorial Chapel on the WSU campus. They began married life in Hawthorne, NY, which was in close proximity to Art’s work as a staE psychologist in Pediatrics at Westchester Medical Center. Kathy taught music in the BOCES shared services program in two school districts in Westchester and Putnam counties. The following year she taught in the Chappaqua Public Schools and then left education to start a family. They moved to Danbury in 1974 and subsequently to Brookfield in 1985 where they lived for thirty-two years before relocating to Southbury’s Heritage Village in 2018.

As her daughters grew up Kathy took a number of positions: music teacher at the New Fairfield PreSchool, Read’s Department Store, Radio Shack, Connecticut National Bank and as an advertising sales representative for the Danbury News-Times. One day she took an ad from a free-lance music teacher who worked for a number of Danbury area parochial schools and was looking for someone to share his increasing teaching commitment. Kathy not only got the position but also added other schools to her roster. As a result of that experience, she decided to pursue a graduate degree and received a M.S. in music education from Western Connecticut State University in 1992. She initially took a position at All Saints School in Norwalk, before becoming a music teacher in the Bridgeport Public Schools.

When Art decided to leave psychology and go into business, the family was off on a 25-month overseas venture with Caltex Petroleum in Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf. While there, Kathy taught private piano lessons and selected, scored and played all the music for an original production, American Pie.

On accepting the Bahrain assignment Art remembers his Mom saying, “You know, there aren’t too many wives that would pack up their lives with a six and not-yet eight-year-old in tow to move halfway around the world.” But that was Kathy, always at-the-ready to lend support and encouragement to whatever challenge or adventure they embarked on.

Kathy and Art had a great life together—first and foremost a wonderful family, round-the-world travel, visiting all 50 states, camping in the Adirondacks, the state forests of Massachusetts and quite a few national parks, virtually rehabbing their first clunker house in Danbury…and doing everything together. Once an avid hiker, Kathy unfortunately had to slow down and cut back due to the results of several orthopedic surgeries. Her situation would have completely sidelined most people but not “KSK” as Art called her. “She was the most enthusiastic and non-complaining person I ever met. I pray for the strength I will need to go on without her”.

A memorial, Celebration of Life Service will be held for Kathy at the Newtown Meeting Place in Newtown, CT at 11 AM on Friday, June 6, 2025. The family cordially asks that contributions in Kathy’s memory be made to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, T2T.org

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 Please Note if You are Planning to attend the Memorial Service:

Parking is limited directly at the Newtown Meeting House.

There are some spaces in front of the building, but guests are advised to park at the back of Edmund Town Hall (movie theater) on Main St where there is ample parking.

For elevator access, drive down the roadway on the right side of the Meeting House.

The elevator is inside the building at the second door down.

A reception will be held immediately following the memorial service on the lower level of the Meeting House.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Kathlyn Kerley, please visit our floral store.