CAPE ELIZABETH – Kathryn Chapman Gammons, 85, a longtime resident of Cape Elizabeth, died Thursday, April 5, 2012, at Gosnell Hospice House, Scarborough. Kathryn was born Nov. 14, 1926, in Corinth, the daughter of Harold E. Chapman and Sara (Sadie) L. Mayo of Corinth.
She spent her childhood in that small farming community and graduated from East Corinth Academy in 1945. After graduation from Mount Ida Junior College, Newton Center, Mass., she became one of the first Continental Airline stewardesses, flying the leg from Tulsa, Okla., to Albuquerque, N.M., in a DC-3. In 1948 she married James T. Coulson and they raised three children, Deb Coulson Crowe and Tim of Athens, Ga., James T. Coulson II and Linda of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Carla Coulson Stewart and David of Tulsa, Okla. Her second marriage to C. Warren Gammons in 1968 expanded the family to include Warren’s three children, Clifford W. Gammons III and Nancy of Travelers Rest, S.C., Tana Gammons Leonhart of Carbondale, Colo., and Janet Gammons Clark of Denver. Kathryn and Warren lived in Norwalk, Conn., where she was a volunteer for the state Audubon Society. When they moved to Cape Elizabeth, Kathryn became a noted authority on bird identification in the state of Maine, and was a volunteer at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm for well more than 25 years, assisting in bird banding, leading bird walks at Scarborough Marsh Nature Center and coordinating information for Maine Bird Alert. In 1997 she was honored with the Maine Audubon Volunteer of the Year Award. Throughout the years she has passed her interest and knowledge of nature and wildlife to eager students and many family members.
She was predeceased by husband, Warren, in 2007; aunt, Ena Chapman, in 2001; brothers, Eugene Chapman, in 2008, and Walter Chapman, March 25, 2012; and three of her grandchildren. She is survived and remembered by her brother, Kenneth Chapman and Pat of Whitefield; her children, 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, as well as nieces, nephews and wonderful birding friends and neighbors.
A celebration of Kathryn’s life will be announced at a later date Arrangements by Hobbs Funeral Home, South Portland.