Entrepeneur, Peace Corps volunteer, Loaves & Fishes director
Kathy Stamski. (Courtesy photo)
Kathy Stamski of Clinton Shore Drive in Harvard, formerly of Acton, passed away June 7, 2008 after a long struggle with ALS.
Born in New York City in 1948 to the late Mary and Lester Dubin, she grew up in Pelham, N.Y. with her parents and two sisters, Barbara and Nancy. Kathy was a member of the graduating Class of 1970 at Tufts University. While at Tufts, she met and married her husband of more than 38 years, Bruce. They have two children, Matthew and Rebecca.
While starting and raising a family in the ’70s, Kathy first worked as a personnel specialist for an educational publisher and then started a store, The Acton Craft Exchange. Wanting to apply her talents in a more meaningful way, she returned to college to become a registered nurse. She then worked in a Boston women’s health care clinic for several years, helping some of the city’s most underserved women. In 1976, Kathy and her husband bought a cabin on Bare Hill Pond in Harvard and began an annual family summer migration.
During the ’80s and ’90s, Kathy’s attention turned to family and to the broad education of her children through travel. The Stamski family was known for its sense of adventure and had many successful journeys, due to the organizational skills of Kathy. Trips ranged from mini adventures in the White Mountains to big adventures in Egypt, Greece, France, Costa Rica, and Mexico. In between travels, she was an active volunteer in the Acton Schools and an assistant coach/organizer of numerous youth sport teams. During this time, Kathy also developed a successful real estate appraisal practice. In 1997 Kathy and family became permanent residents on Bare Hill Pond.
In 2000, with children successfully through college, Kathy and her husband were able to fulfill one of her lifelong dreams: they became Peace Corps volunteers and went off to a village in Ecuador for two years. Kathy was most proud of the nine women from a multigenerational family whom she helped start the first restaurant in the village. She spent many days these last few months writing about this experience. Younger Peace Corps volunteers were drawn to Kathy, whom they saw as a friend and surrogate mom. She was always ready to listen, offer advice when solicited, or just share a “mohito a cafecito.”
After returning from the Peace Corps in 2002, Kathy was looking for the right match for her organizational skills and pragmatic social activism. She was chosen to be the first executive director of the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry in Devens. She remained the director until January 2008, when her health condition prevented her from continuing.
The year 2006 brought the sense of “mission accomplished” on the childrearing front, with the marriage of her two children to two wonderful people: Becky to Bob and Matt to Julia. She also felt blessed to be able to welcome Matt and Julia’s son, Norman Matthew Stamski, to this world on May 21, 2008.
Kathy left this world peacefully in her home overlooking Bare Hill Pond.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, P.O. Box 1, Ayer, MA 01432 and/or to the Nashoba Nursing Service and Hospice, 2 Shaker Road, Suite D225, Shirley, MA 01464. A memorial service and celebration of Kathy’s life was held at her beloved home on Bare Hill Pond.
