Catherine Mary Foley, a longtime Montauk resident who co-owned a surf shop and a health foods store there, died at home on Sept. 3, surrounded by her family. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago, and doctors gave her two months to live at the time. She was 57.
In 1996, with her husband, Stu Foley, Ms. Foley founded the Air and Speed store in Montauk; she also co-owned Naturally Good. A member of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce for over eight years, she was on its scholarship committee and recycling initiative. She loved the outdoors, relatives said, and could often be found surfing, snowboarding, competing in triathlons, playing tennis, and throwing a football with her kids.
She was born on Oct. 11, 1961, at Southampton Hospital, the second-youngest of the 12 children of Duane Whelan and the former Mary Editha Webster. Growing up in East Hampton, she attended the John M. Marshall Elementary School, Most Holy Trinity Catholic School, and East Hampton High School, graduating in 1979. She went on to Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where she completed a degree in elementary education. After returning to the East End in the early ’80s, she taught prekindergarten at the parish school of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk.
Mr. Foley, who survives, was an “UpIsland guy” who had moved to Montauk to fish and surf, the family said. He and Catherine Whelan were married in September 1983. They lived in Montauk for 27 years and raised four children there. They are Michael Foley, Max Foley, and Summer Foley, all of whom live in the hamlet, and Jay Foley of New York City.
Summer Foley called her mother her “best friend,” her “voice of reason,” her “rock,” and said she gave “the most accurate advice for any situation.” Her mother worked seven days a week to put her children through college, she said.
Catherine Foley loved reading, knitting, and taking her dog on four-mile walks every day on the beach. “She was beautiful, kind, generous, and brave,” her daughter wrote. “She was fiercely competitive, yet always humble and happy for others. . . . She had the best sense of humor, and her smile was infectious. She only spoke positively and lived each day true to her values and morals.”
In addition to her four children, Ms. Foley leaves 10 siblings. They are Margret Eaton of East Montpelier, Vt., Susanna Kelly of Highland Beach, Fla., Maria Whelan of Chicago, Rebecca O’Herron of Newburgh, N.Y., David Whelan of Sag Harbor, Anne Mullins of Orland Park, Ill., John Whelan of East Hampton, Martha Robinson of Evansville, Ind., Elizabeth Whelan Kotz of Bridgehampton, and Joseph Whelan of Bristol, R.I. A brother, Peter Whelan of Sag Harbor, died before her. She is also survived by one beloved grandson, whom she called “Mr. Handsome,” and 40 nieces and nephews.
Burial was at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk on Sept. 7, following services at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton and at St. Therese. The family has suggested memorial donations to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, 415 Crossways Park Drive, Suite D, Woodbury 11797, or to the Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk 11954.