Catherine Verhaegen

Catherine Rosalie Verhaegen, better known as Kay, died on June 3 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton, where she had resided since 2014. She was 90.

She was born on March 8, 1927, in Nova Scotia, to Christine Matheson of Nova Scotia and William Verhaegen of the Netherlands. Her mother returned from Montauk, where her father had found work painting the newly built Montauk Manor, to Nova Scotia for the birth, allowing her daughter to claim Canadian citizenship. She later became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

She grew up in Montauk, living in the former Shepherd Neck apartments on Second House Road. The family of five shared a two-room unit; her parents slept in the kitchen. Later, they moved to Old Montauk Highway. Ms. Verhaegen attended the Montauk School, where, as an 11-year-old, she rode out the Hurricane of 1938. In 1944 she graduated from East Hampton High School and received a partial scholarship to attend Rider College in Trenton, N.J. Trenton became her home for the next 50 years.

Wearing her trademark cat-eye glasses, she worked as a secretary for the Penn Central railroad system, later part of Conrail, and retired in 1987 after 40 years. She was a dedicated member of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton for over 46 years, serving at various times as clerk and delegate to the Presbytery. She also sang in the church choir and was an officer in its Women’s Association.

In 2004, Ms. Verhaegen, who never married, returned to the East End. She lived in East Hampton, to be near her sister Dorothy Osborn, and joined the East Hampton Presbyterian Church. In 2009, during the 80th anniversary celebration of the Montauk Community Church, Ms. Verhaegen was honored as one of the first babies to have been baptized in that church.

In addition to being a dedicated churchgoer, she enjoyed playing cards, listening to music, and writing letters. Her niece Hilary Osborn Malecki of East Hampton said she was “always cheerful and willing to help people. She lived a simple life, was frugal with her money, and was an impressive saver. She was an eternal optimist who always saw the bright side of things.”

Ms. Verhaegen is survived by a sister, Gail Sterling of Gulfport, Miss., and several other nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her other three siblings, Mrs. Osborn, Charles Verhaegen of Babylon and Sarasota, Fla., and Florence Verhaegen, who succumbed to meningitis as a teenager in 1944 during an outbreak at Montauk’s Camp Hero.

A memorial service will take place at 11:30 a.m. on July 23, at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church. Her ashes will be buried beside her parents’ graves at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton. Memorial donations may be made to the church, 120 Main Street, East Hampton 11937.